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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23301112">Skaifaya - Little Marie</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cairlinn/pseuds/Cairlinn'>Cairlinn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The 100 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cute, Family Bonding, Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:35:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>95,506</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23301112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cairlinn/pseuds/Cairlinn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a re-write of Skaifaya with Marie being 4 years old. Much fluffier than the original story :)<br/>Inspired and dedicated to a lost friend</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I cannot believe that we are actually doing this…” Abby’s voice trailed off into silence, expression drawn and serene. She had voted against this decision, but the rest of the council had agreed with Thelonious, so she had been overruled and her arguments had fallen on deaf ears.</p><p>The chancellor of the Ark stood beside her; gaze focused on the one hundred computer screens which had been installed in the room which would soon be used to monitor the one hundred criminal juveniles who would be sent to earth on the next day. Currently, all the screens were blank as the last tests had just been completed. The systems were running and functional.</p><p>Thelonious expression showed some of his inner conflict. He might have voted in favour of sending their youngest criminal ever down to earth, but he was torn about it too.</p><p>The sad truth was that Marie Matthews was just one extremely unlucky kid. The girl had not even turned six yet and had lost both of her parents in an explosion on the Hydrofarm just three days ago. It had never happened before that there suddenly was an orphan on the Ark and none of them had known on how to deal with the situation.</p><p>The girl had been collected from her living quarters and brought to the medical bay where Abby had checked her out. Physically the child was perfectly healthy, but she had been near catatonic since Thelonious had tried to explain to her that her parents would not return. Marie had willingly followed the guards to the medical bay, a little confused but rather shy and polite. </p><p>Abby had immediately offered to look over the child until a permanent solution could be worked out, but Thelonious had been hesitant to agree. So far only the council knew that they were running out of oxygen and earth was the only alternative right now. Sending the kids from the Skybox down to earth would only buy them a few more weeks of breathable air until the systems of the Ark would begin to fail.</p><p>The discussions about whether to send the kids down at all or to better send a smaller team of specialists had been long and hard. But the blunt facts were that the kids were expendable, they had been arrested because they had broken the law and by sending them to earth, they might be able to save all of them.</p><p>Thelonious had asked Jackson, the second doctor in the medical bay, for his opinion on how valuable Marie’s data on earth could be. The young doctor had easily answered that her young body would probably tell them the quickest if earth would be survivable, if she could survive, they all would be able to. He knew how furious Abby had been with her colleague for answering like that, but they could not afford to be swayed by morals and sentimentality right now. They were facing possible extinction. What would it mean if the girl and the other kids died on earth, when they were all just waiting for their assured death?</p><p>Marie had been brought into a single room in the Skybox after Thelonious’ proposition had been accepted by the rest of the council, which now had been almost two days ago.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>When Marie woke up again her mind was dazed and confused. She was unable to recognize just where she was at all. The bed did not feel right, she was not home.</p><p>With the thought of “home” her grey eyes watered immediately again. The guard who had brought her into this room before leaving and locking the door on the outside had told her that she would never be able to return to the living quarters of her family.</p><p>Marie sniffled under her breath, clutching the thin scratchy blanket tighter around herself. She remembered now how the chancellor had told her that her parents would not be able to return to her either, they had died. She was not truly sure what death actually meant and where her parents now were and when they might be returning for her. Maybe she had done something to make them angry, so they left her?</p><p>She still remembered how the old woman who had lived opposite of their quarters had someday disappeared. She had liked her; she had always smiled at her kindly and ruffled her hair when she had been around. Her mother had explained to her that the woman had died and would never return, so Marie understood the basic concept of death meaning that the person had disappeared, but her mother had outright refused to explain more to her.</p><p>Marie had no idea why she was alone in this room now, she had never before been in this part of the Ark and she also did not know for how long she had been there already either.</p><p>The sound of footsteps somewhere in front of the door alerted Marie a moment later, proclaiming that someone had to be outside of her door. Marie sat up quickly in the bed, shoving the blanket from her legs, before she hurried over to the door and hammered against the door. Marie scowled at the metal door, her weak attempts barely made any sound and her wrists were hurting already.</p><p>More tears gathered in her grey eyes; she could not remember ever having been alone for such a long period of time. She had been used to her mother leaving for some time around midday to bring something to eat to the place where her father worked on Farm. She had been alone always for some time during the mornings, but her mother had always made sure that she had a book or some toys to play with. She had also begun attending lessons in schools some time back and when she returned from them her parents had been back from work.</p><p>Even the medical bay had been better than this sterile small room. The doctor had been kind to her and smiled at her, although Marie had not understood why the woman had looked so sad when she had examined her.</p><p>She trudged back over to the bed, sitting down on it and pulling her knees to her chest, hugging them close to her body. Marie began slightly rocking back and forth as she lost the fight against her tears and they began to spill down her cheeks. She sobbed loudly, feeling her chest constrict painfully. For a moment, she even hoped that the door would open and her mother would step inside, wiping her tears away and hugging her close, humming their lullaby to her, like her mother always had done when she had cried before after falling and scraping a knee.</p><p>Marie blinked again, once her vision adjusted against the tears clouding her gaze, someone truly had entered her room. For the blink of a second, Marie felt hope bloom within her chest that her parents had returned to her, but her hope was crushed when she recognized the doctor from the medical bay.</p><p>Marie wiped at her tears with her hands, wondering what the doctor wanted now.</p><p>“Hello, Marie” Abby addressed the girl in a soft tone, feeling her heart bleed for the little girl’s sorrow. She sat down next to the girl on the bed and she sighed under her breath, when Marie scooted slightly away from her. She had been careful during her examination yesterday, but it had been obvious just how shy the little girl was around strangers. “Can you look at me, please, Marie?” she asked the girl gently, keeping her distance while the child was hiding her face by looking down at her knees.</p><p>Marie took a moment to follow the order and her large grey eyes still swam in tears when her gaze connected with the doctor’s. She bit at her lips slightly, wondering what was going on. Would she be moved somewhere else now?</p><p>Abby looked at the girl sadly, feeling the weight of the syringe hidden within her pocket as if it was a huge brick of stone. She still did not agree to this, but she had insisted on being the one to personally make Marie ready for the kids departing.</p><p>She removed the small metal cuff from her pocket and a small smile flitted over her features at seeing the unmistakable curiosity winning out over Marie’s shyness.</p><p>“What that?” Marie asked curiously, looking at the shiny thing in the doctor’s hands with interest.</p><p>“That is…” Abby faltered for a moment when the child next to her sort of crawled over to her to be closer to her hands and she held the metal cuff out towards Marie so that the girl could take it and inspect what the foreign object was. She wished that the council would have agreed to her proposal, she would have gladly taken over guardianship over Marie.</p><p>Marie cautiously took the thing and turned it over in her hands, it nearly looked like a bracelet of sorts. But she had not seen one this thick yet and she did not understand why it had pins on the inside.</p><p>“This is a special type of bracelet for you” Abby finally answered the child’s question after a moment of silence. Marie seemed to have forgotten her tears for the moment and was still fascinated by the metal cuff, grey eyes showing her slight wonder at being presented with something for her. Abby felt remorse when she took the cuff from the girl’s fingers and fastened it around her small wrist. A pair of engineers had spent the whole last day to come up with this smaller version of the metal cuffs the other delinquents would be wearing.</p><p>The girl let out a small wail at the pain of the pins being forcefully pushed into the skin around her wrist and her grey eyes almost looked accusing as she ripped her arm back and cradled it to her chest with a bout of fresh tears rolling down her round cheeks.</p><p>Abby sighed under her breath, wanting nothing more than to pull the small girl into her lap and shield her from what was about to happen; she was all too aware of the pair of guards waiting just outside of the door to bring the girl into the dropship to the other criminal juveniles. She breathed out heavily, tightening her fingers around the syringe, before she quickly brought it up.</p><p>The little girl had sat back down and buried her face in her knees, which easily had exposed her neck to Abby.</p><p>Internally Abby apologised to Marie and she soothingly rubbed over the girl’s back, when her grey teary eyes had snapped up at the slight sting of the injection. “Everything will be fine, Marie” she tried to reassure the girl, but the narcotic took effect fast and she quickly scooped up the unconscious little body.</p><p>“This is not right” Abby darkly commented to the guard who had remained by the door to take over the young child.</p><p>The man barely grunted under his breath before he just took the girl from the doctor’s arms. “Your presence is needed, the chancellor was shot” he addressed the doctor, turning on his heels and carrying the small girl towards the dropship and an unknown fate.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie woke up again an undefined time later and it took her much longer now to try and understand where she was or what had happened. Her wrist was still hurting and she tugged at the bracelet, trying to get it off, but that unfortunately only increased the pain.</p><p>When she heard voices speaking around her, her grey eyes snapped up and she just noticed now that she was sitting in some seat, wearing some straps to keep her in place. Marie saw a small group of what appeared to be older kids standing in a large round room. She tugged at the straps keeping her in place, but she could not figure out how they were fastened. She could also not recognize just where in the Ark they all were or who these kids actually were.</p><p>Her movements had caught someone’s attention and Marie shied away slightly in her seat – as much as the straps allowed her to – when a lanky boy wearing large goggles kneeled down in front of her, much too close to her liking.</p><p>“She is awake” Jasper called over his shoulder “Hi there, little one” he addressed the small girl in front of him with a goofy smile.</p><p>Marie frowned slightly at him, wanting the boy to back off from her. She felt even more cornered when a blonde girl who distinctly appeared familiar and another boy suddenly appeared directly next to the first one.</p><p>“Give her some room” a louder voice resonated suddenly from behind the other three.</p><p>“And who makes you the expert on little children?” Monty turned around to Bellamy with a raised brow and he crossed his arms over his chest.</p><p>Bellamy met Monty’s gaze with an unexpressed expression; he knew after all that he was the only one on the Ark who had a younger sibling and by thus the most experience in how to treat a younger child as he still could remember Octavia being this small.</p><p>None of them could understand what the council had actually thought when they had decided to include Marie Matthews, a mere five-year-old girl, in this mission. They still had not done much more than open the door to the outside world and taken a few steps around the dropship since landing some time ago.</p><p>“You are all clearly scaring her” Bellamy commented and he waited for the other three to back off, before he slowly got closer to Marie. The girl’s grey eyes were wide and she had pressed herself as deeply against the seat as she could, small body drawn with tension.</p><p>“Let me open that for you, Marie” Bellamy offered in a kind tone, trying not to crowd the small girl, while he quickly undid the buckles which held the straps in place around the girl’s body.</p><p>Marie waited frozen in her place for the older boy to move away again and she inspected the hand he offered to her for a long silent moment before she cautiously grabbed onto it, letting herself be pulled from the seat and to her feet, although her legs felt slightly unsteady.</p><p>“You can take a look at earth now, Marie” Bellamy told the young child in a gentle tone, contrasting starkly to how he had acted before with the other delinquents.</p><p>“Earth?” Marie echoed the word as a question, head tilted sideways and grey eyes slightly widened.</p><p>Bellamy nodded with a smile softening his features “Yes, we are on earth now” he explained slowly.</p><p>Marie’s eyes widened even further and the opened door of the room behind Bellamy just now fully registered within her mind and how light filtered inside. Earth. She had liked to stand at the windows of the Ark and look down on the planet. Her mother had liked to say that they “lived among the stars” now but that their true home would forever remain earth. Marie did only have a vague idea on how earth was supposed to look like. Her parents had told her some things about earth, about how many animals had been living there. Marie had been curious about those and her parents had begun to bring her a few books they had traded with others. For most of the time Marie had not been able to do anything else than just look at the pictures within them, but she now could read them as well. She had not understood all of the words though and her parents had mostly been too tired to have to explain them to her, telling her that she would learn them with time in school lessons.</p><p>“Birdies?” she questioned in a soft tone, only looking at the boy who was holding one of her hands. Marie remembered having a book in hand which had only been filled with all different types of birds, one type prettier than the other.</p><p>Bellamy nodded his head leading the small child slowly towards the entrance of the dropship; they had already seen a few birds fly above them.</p><p>Clarke followed behind Bellamy quickly, leaving only a slight distance between herself and the older boy. Her mother had asked her personally to keep an eye on Marie, ordering her to protect the small girl before she had been knocked unconscious by the narcotic dart from one of the guards and had woken up in the dropship.</p><p>Marie remained rooted to the spot, standing still on the metal of the dropship, grey eyes wide and filled with wonder as they looked around. Everything around them was so immensely green and the trees reached high up into the sky, much higher than Marie ever had imagined them to grow. She had only once seen the small tree which had been kept on the Ark as a symbol of their origin.</p><p>“Come on” Bellamy said, letting go of Marie’s hand for now and instead picking the small girl up for a moment to hoist her from the dropship and place her on the grass in front of it.</p><p>Marie didn’t make a sound during the whole scene and once the boy had let go of her, she bent down, carefully touching the grass with her fingers. She giggled when she felt how ticklish it was to let it move through her hands.</p><p>“We still need to go to Mount Weather” Clarke spoke up in a slightly annoyed tone, although her eyes were rather soft as she watched Marie explore their surroundings from the corners of her eyes.</p><p>Wells had appeared behind his friend and immediately backed the blonde girl up, agreeing that they desperately needed the rations which were supposedly to be found there as the Ark had not stocked them with anything really.</p><p>Marie did not really listen to the older kids discuss among each other, she did not know about what it was they were discussing either, neither was she really interested in it. If she blocked out the others arguing, she could distinctly hear what must be birds screeching somewhere.</p><p>She tilted her head back so that she could look high above her head and to her it appeared as if the trees were growing into the sky as she was unable to make out their tops. It seemed as if even the air somehow smelled different from what she was used to and Marie actually felt a little overwhelmed with all the new sensations all of a sudden, wishing herself back into their room in the Ark, where she would probably be waiting for her parents now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marie did not know how long ago their landing on earth had been now. She knew that she had already slept once and saw the moon and the stars.</p><p>So far, the others had not let her out of sight and everyone had strictly told her to remain close to the dropship. Marie could only remember the names of a few of the older kids who had this far mostly taken of care her until now.</p><p>Currently, she was sitting on a log next to Octavia. She had learned already that the dark-haired girl had been in prison for being born. She did not really understand how this could be a crime though and by the sadness in the older girl’s dark eyes Marie had thought it better not to ask either.</p><p>The dark-haired girl was not in the best mood right now. She had been bitten by some sort of water monster from what Marie had understood of the others and could not walk really well. So, she had also not been able to join the others in their search for Jasper, the boy with the goggles was missing currently.</p><p>Marie still found it hard to imagine that there were other people on earth. Her parents had not told her much about the ending of the old world, but they had told her that all humanity had been destroyed beside those who had found a place on the Ark.</p><p>Most of the older children were not paying her much attention at all, while others seemed to watch her constantly. A few of the older girls were annoying her, watching her antics and commenting that she was “the cutest thing ever”. Marie had scowled at that, she was not “cute” any longer, but a big girl. Her Daddy had told her so a lot.</p><p>Octavia had promised her that they would show her the glowing butterflies today. The others had stumbled upon a place where there were butterflies which glowed in the dark and ever since Marie had heard about that, she wanted to go and see them, asking after it several times. Bellamy had finally conceded and agreed that she would get to see them this night. Clarke had been furious with him, saying that Marie was too young to set foot out of the camp and Marie had been upset at that.</p><p>“Can we go see butterfies now?” Marie asked hopefully, to her it seemed that it was already going darker and she was tired of waiting and just sitting around. There were no toys or books around to keep her occupied with and she was bored.</p><p>“It is “butterflies”” Octavia corrected the small girl, turning over to look at her, it was obvious that Marie was bored and she herself was annoyed by having to stay within the camp at all. The others were erecting a wall around their camp currently, but she was certain that her brother would wish to accompany them and he was with the search party for Jasper, although none of them knew if the butterflies would actually be there during daytime and it was still slightly too early for the sun to set. “It has not gotten dark enough yet” she explained after a moment and amusement filled her gaze as she watched Marie’s features pull into a dramatic pout.</p><p>“Wanna go now. Now!” Marie retorted a little too loudly, crossing her arms over her chest “It gotten darker aleady” she added, nodding her head for emphasis.</p><p>Octavia chuckled under her breath “But not yet dark enough” she reasoned seriously. She let her gaze wander over their surroundings. She knew that a few of them had been successfully in gathering some berries and other plants which were edible and their last meal had been meagre at best. “Are you hungry, Marie?” she asked the smaller girl, hoping to divert her attention for some time from the butterflies.</p><p>The pout dropped from Marie’s face as she considered the question, placing one hand on her tummy as if to feel inside, she nodded her head in agreement.</p><p>Octavia quickly learned though that the young blonde child was a rather picky eater and finding something which the girl actually wanted to eat was anything but easy. She unfortunately had to agree with Marie’s assessment that most of the things the others ha gathered was barely edible and tasted pretty vile, but she understood the necessity of food though.</p><p>“You know that a human body needs food to function, right?” Octavia asked Marie, having watched the girl just pick apart a few berries instead of actually eating them.</p><p>Marie nodded her head and a look of concentration settled onto her features “Human body can go tre days without water and tre weeks without food” she cited something which she had read in a book. The only problem was, that Marie did not understand yet what an actual week was. She knew the word, but she did not understand its meaning.</p><p>Octavia laughed out loud at the serious way in which the young girl had shared obviously learned by heart knowledge. “You can read?” she asked the younger girl, letting the matter of food drop for now.</p><p>Marie nodded her head in mute agreement, there had not been much else to do when her mother was also away at work and playing with her toys alone had always gotten boring. Reading alone though was not boring.</p><p>Octavia looked mildly impressed at that, but she refrained from commenting. She grimaced slightly; the girl’s chubby hands were strained in the dark juice of the berries with which she was messing around instead of eating them.</p><p>All thoughts of getting Marie to wash her hands were forgotten though, when the search party for Jasper returned to their small camp.</p><p>Marie left the berries discarded on the ground, following Octavia to the dropship. The group seemed to have found Jasper, but the boy must be in a horrible pain to make him scream like that. Octavia had vanished inside the dropship by the time that Marie reached the entrance and Bellamy met her there.</p><p>“Hello there, Marie” the older boy greeted her with a kind smile “We have brought back a panther to eat” he informed Marie.</p><p>“Panther” Marie repeated the word thoughtfully under her breath, trying to remember if she had seen a picture of this animal in one of her books, but she could not remember right now.</p><p>Bellamy nodded his head “Come” he held out his hand for the small girl and when she reached out to take it, he frowned, noticing how dirty her chubby fingers were “Someone obviously needs some water” he commented with amusement colouring his tone.</p><p>Marie looked down at her hands with a slight frown, she had not noticed that the berries had strained her fingers like that. She had always had to wash her hands before they had gone to the hall to eat, so she knew that she would need to wash them now too.</p><p>“Gonna wash them” she said in an important tone, nodding her head in a promise.</p><p>“You better” Bellamy agreed still amused by the young girl. Marie was different from the way his sister had been at that age, but the child seemed to be sweet and kind so far.</p><p>After her fingers were washed, Bellamy brought her to the fire where some others were roasting meat from the panther.</p><p>Marie smiled brightly when Bellamy handed her a piece and she was already in the process of bringing it to her mouth to take a bit, when the older boy slowed her down, warning her that the meat would be too hot to eat like that.</p><p>Marie frowned slightly, the food on the Ark had always been directly eatable and she did not know how blowing onto it should help. She held the stick with the meat in her hand indecisively and as she now did not know that surely anymore on what to do, she waited until she had been able to observe Bellamy eat a few bites before she copied how he was doing it.</p><p>Marie’s expression turned delighted at the taste of the tender meat.</p><p>“Good, isn’t it?” Bellamy asked kindly and Marie immediately nodded her head eagerly in agreement before she took another bite.</p><p>“Butterfies” was the only thing Marie immediately said just the very moment she had eaten up her portion of the meat.</p><p>Bellamy chuckled slightly “We can go soon, promise” he reassured the girl. He just wanted to check in with Octavia and Clarke on how Jasper was doing, the boy’s screaming had thankfully stopped for now, but he did not know if he had just passed out.</p><p>Marie nodded that she had understood and she waited in her place when Bellamy asked her to. The wait seemed to turn into long minutes though until the boy returned together with Octavia and Clarke, although the older blonde girl did not seem pleased.</p><p>“No one should leave this camp now” Clarke said loudly, continuing their already ongoing argument “and least of all, her” she pointed at Marie “It is dark and we can barely navigate…”.</p><p>Marie pouted at Clarke’s words and she crossed her arms over her chest again “Wanna go n see them!” she exclaimed loudly, interrupting the older girl midsentence.</p><p>“Marie, it is dangerous outside this camp” Clarke tried to reason with the small girl. She could fathom that Marie was bored, but bringing her out of the camp in the dark was truly a bad idea in her opinion.</p><p>“But the butterfies…” Marie retorted stubbornly, looking up at Bellamy with huge grey pleading eyes. The older boy had promised to take her there right now after all.</p><p>“You shall see them now” Bellamy agreed quickly, not wanting the small girl to burst into tears. That had happened already yesterday and no one had seemed to know exactly on how to treat Marie then from what he had been told “Clarke can just accompany us if she is so afraid of the dark” he added in a cheeky tone.</p><p>Marie giggled at his comment and at Clarke rolling her eyes at him.</p><p>“You very well know that this has nothing to do with being afraid of the dark” Clarke shot back a little darkly.</p><p>“If you say so…” Bellamy trailed off with a critically raised brow and Marie giggled louder at the two of them squabbling.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The way towards the place where they had seen the butterflies was thankfully not too long. Octavia had decided to stay back in the dropship with Jasper, so it were only Bellamy, Clarke and Marie now.</p><p>Clarke seemed as amazed by the butterflies as Marie obviously was.</p><p>Marie stood in the middle of the trees, spinning around herself with wide eyes and taking in all the glowing butterflies sitting in the trees around them.</p><p>Bellamy and Clarke had begun to argue about the Mountain now and when Marie’s attention was caught by a single butterfly having landed on her arm, only to fly away, the small girl quickly followed the butterfly, trying to chase it.</p><p>Marie did not even realize that she had gotten out of sight from Clarke and Bellamy, she only noticed it really as the butterfly landed on another tree and the woods around her were silent.</p><p>Marie turned around quickly, hoping that she had turned back into the direction she had come from. She did not know if the other two would be able to hear her, if she called out. But somehow her throat felt a little tight all of a sudden and the sounds around her of the trees and animals were all too frightening now.</p><p>Marie hurried through the trees, desperately hoping that she was moving in the right direction. She stumbled some time later and picked herself back up from the ground with a frown. Her knees hurt under her trousers and she could see a little blood gathering where she had scraped her hands open. She sniffled under her breath. She was all alone in the woods now and it was so dark and she actually had no idea where she was exactly.</p><p>Marie’s sniffles continued for some time. Usually her mother or father would have soothed her by now, they had never let her cry in silence, but always hugged her close and kissed it better. She wanted to be with them now. Where were they?</p><p>Marie had no idea how long she was already trudging through the dark forest and at every new sound, she startled strongly and just wished that she was not alone right now. She wanted to be back with her parents on the Ark. She did not like earth all that much now.</p><p>It must have been a rather long time later until Marie by chance found another glowing butterfly and decided to follow that. She found a place where there were many of the creatures sitting on all of the trees.</p><p>Marie was so focused on all the brightly glowing butterflies that she had not noticed that she was not in fact alone on the small clearing.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa’s hands tightened around the daggers fastened on her thighs, when she heard the unmistakable sounds of someone approaching the clearing. She frowned slightly, something seemed off about the sounds. They were too light to be produced by a fully frown adult, but they sounded too unsure to be sounds from an animal either.</p><p>The grip on her daggers loosened, when her gaze fell onto a small girl trudging onto the clearing. In the dim moonlight it was obvious that the girl was none of their own. Lincoln had already told her in his report that these Sky children had brought one very small child with them, so that must be her.</p><p>She tilted her the slightest bit, watching the girl totally undetected. The girl was small, barely reaching to her hips from her heights. She had curly light blonde hair and the roundness of her face and the obvious chubbiness of her body clearly showed that this child could not be older than a few summers, too young still to be trained as a fighter. The child was unobservant and her attention was fully immersed by the glowing butterflies around them.</p><p>Lexa remained standing utterly still, not entirely sure on how to proceed. The girl was too small to have any knowledge which could be of use to them.</p><p>Once the girl noticed her, her bright grey eyes widened visibly and Lexa recognized the signs of tear tracks on her round cheeks.</p><p>Lexa frowned slightly, when the girl’s eyes flashed with something and her unsure steps carried her closer to her. Her frown only deepened when the girl stopped just slightly in front of her and the child raised her arms up, unmistakably asking to be carried.</p><p>Bewilderment filled Lexa’s thoughts, the child did not seem put off at all by the armour or weapons she wore, neither of the dark war paint smeared around her eyes. She hesitated for a single moment, but something pulled at her heart, when the child’s grey eyes filled with tears of rejection and she reached out, pulling the small girl up into her arms.</p><p>The girl sniffled a little under her breath and Lexa unsurely held her small body in her arms until her short legs found their way around her hip and the girl settled there comfortably, laying her cheek against her chest and it seemed to barely take a second until the child’s grey eyes closed and she dozed off.</p><p>Lexa remained rooted to the spot for long moments, trying to figure out just what had happened these past moments. How had she ended up with a small sleeping girl on her arms? A girl which was not even from any of her clans.</p><p>She had been called to TonDC after scouts had reported that something had fallen from the sky. She had already ordered for scouts to have these invaders put under watch. She wanted to know about them before she would call her warriors to attack. She had arrived in TonDC the day before and had wanted to return to the spot which she had always liked to be as a child, having grown up in this area. It did not really make sense to her that she was now carrying a small sleeping child through the forest and definitely did not make sense how the child had just demanded to be picked up and that she had actually complied with that.</p><p>Lexa shook her head, trying to silence her thoughts for now. The girl had obviously been wandering through the forest on her own and the woods were no place for such a small child without any protection. The girl had obviously been lucky not to have a run in with a predator. She did know yet what would be happening with the girl, but leaving her behind was out of question. Somehow, she also already knew that she would not agree to killing her either. The girl was still so small and young. They would not have any reason to execute her and surely someone would be found to look after her.</p><p>Lexa nodded to her internal thoughts. Yes, she would bring the girl back to TonDC and see then what would happen with her. Maybe a family in TonDC would already agree to take her in. The girl had appeared to be healthy and uninjured at least.</p><p>The sensation of the little girl’s breathing ghosting against her collarbone was a rather weird one to Lexa, but she only tightened her arms slightly around the sleeping girl, securing her in place, as she carried her back through the woods and further towards TonDC. If Anya could see her now, her former mentor would surely snort out a bark of laughter. The commander of the twelve clans carrying a sleeping lost girl through the forest. Hillarious…</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lexa arrived in TonDC sometime later and the small blonde girl in her arms was still soundly asleep, she had not even budged at all the whole time.</p><p>The warriors who she encountered on her way to her tent all openly seemed perplexed to spot her with a little girl. The child’s clothing easily identified her as a stranger as well and neither of them would have ever seen her interact directly with a child.</p><p>Lexa occasionally visited an orphanage in Polis when she had a little time to breathe, which was not the case that often, and she used to play with the children there. It was refreshing for her to be surrounded by children who did not yet understand the meaning of her station and who just saw the person behind the image of the powerful commander. If she was unable to find a place for the little girl here in TonDC, she could bring her to Polis and let her remain in the orphanage.</p><p>Gustus stood post at the entrance to the commander’s tent and the burly guard looked as nonplussed as the other warriors had. His dark eyes flashed with questions, but he seemed to mind his place and remained silent.</p><p>“Summon the generals, Gustus” Lexa ordered once she was close enough to the man who immediately nodded in agreement and stormed away from the tent.</p><p>Lexa entered the tent quickly and she stepped over to the sleeping area of the tent, hidden behind a curtain. The girl had not woken up yet and for some reason, Lexa hesitated to wake her. Carefully, she loosened the child’s hands which had been clutched around her coat and slowly put the sleeping girl onto the bed.</p><p>Lexa hesitated in front of the bed for long moments, simply observing the sleeping little child in silence. Her blonde hair had a rare light hue and her eyes had been of a grey tone if she remembered correctly. The child truly still showed the characteristics of a young girl still not grown fully out of the state of a mere toddler.</p><p>She still wondered why the girl had walked up to her like that and just demanded to be picked up. She highly doubted that a child of their own would have done so, even their youngest knew better than to trust strangers blindly like that.</p><p>Lexa remembered from Lincoln’s report that he had counted 98 people moving around their strange metal contraption, including the little girl. All of them on the brink of adolescence, save for this little child. She had no idea where these people might have come from, why there were there and if they would pose a threat. The fact that they were obviously determined to reach the Mountain was not soothing though. No matter why they were there, she could not understand why this small child was there as well. Lincoln had mentioned that the girl did not seem to belong to any of them and shied away from most of the people around her. It made even less sense in that contrast how trusting the child had been towards herself.</p><p>She guessed that the girl would be hungry once she woke up from her nap, but she was not that sure what a small child that age actually ate. So, after another long moment Lexa turned away from the bed and just as she had passed by the curtain, Anya entered the tent, an expectant expression on her stern features.</p><p>“I will be right back” Lexa exclaimed in a low tone, hoping not to wake the little girl up, not really sure on what to expect once the girl did wake. She knew after all of course that the child would not sleep forever. Her mind still had not truly caught up with her decision to bring the girl along though.</p><p>Anya watched the commander sweep from the tent with a slight frown and her brows furrowed in confusion at the seemingly odd behaviour of her previous second. She had seen the commander grow from a scrawny child barely reaching up to her hips grow into the mighty leader that she was nowadays. Lexa had changed in the last years; most of the light within her green eyes had dimmed after she had been robbed of her love by queen Nia of Azgeda and had to discover her love's severed head in her bed in her chambers in Polis. Still, the young leader had remained steady in her goal to unite the clans. She had grown harder and more ruthless and there had been an unbridgeable void between former second and first ever since, Anya doubted that they would grow back to be as close as they had been. She had seen the commander close off her heart to the rest of the world, it made her a force to be reckoned with, but she feared that Lexa would one day crumble beneath this burden and she feared to imagine how the clans would exploit such a weakness when it happened.</p><p>The sounds of soft crying pulled Anya out of her internal musings and her frown deepened, confused for a moment where the crying was coming from at all. It almost sounded as if it came from behind the curtain to the sleeping part of the tent. She stepped closer to the curtain after glancing back over her shoulder. Lexa was nowhere near in sight and as she stepped closer, Anya could hear the crying increase in volume.</p><p>Cautiously Anya pushed the curtain back and faltered for a moment. A girl was sitting in the middle of Lexa’s bed. Light blonde hair fell past the child’s shoulders in curls and huge bright grey eyes looked up at her, swimming in tears. The child looked to be young, the roundness of her face and the chubbiness of her small body easily revealed that she could barely be older than five summers, if she was that old already. Her clothing made Anya hesitate to go to the girl though, she had never seen such an outfit and it looked pretty much just as Lincoln had described the people who had fallen from the stars to be dressed. She distinctly remembered that Lincoln had mentioned to have seen a much younger child to be within this group of invaders. But how did this child come to be here?</p><p>When Anya continued to just stare at the child in stunned silence, the young girl’s soft sobs turned into full fledged wails and the child held her hands up towards her in an unmistakable plea to be picked up. With each second that passed with Anya remaining motionless opposite of the girl, the child’s wails only increased and her hands tried to reach higher.</p><p>Although Anya was still highly sceptical on how to proceed with the girl, none of her seconds had been this small before, she stepped closer to the bed and reached for the small child, if only to make her stop her ear-splitting wails. As soon as she had made contact with the girl and pulled her from the bed up into her arms, the child fell silent immediately.</p><p>Anya looked down at the huge grey eyes peering up at her, shining with open curiosity. When Anya’s brows furrowed again and a slight scowl settled on her features, the girl just giggled softly in response, which only prompted Anya’s brows to furrow in internal puzzlement. Although she was not glaring at the child or anything, Anya definitely had not expected her to react with giggles either.</p><p>She wondered how this girl had ended up here and what Lexa already knew about the child. She highly doubted that the brunette would have just like that taken this girl with her without having some ulterior motives. The girl appeared to be too young to expect her to possess any valuable knowledge yet. The child had not said a single word yet, so Anya questioned if she even could speak yet. Maybe her appearance gave a wrong impression and the girl was too young to speak yet.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>When Marie woke up again, she had no idea where she was, neither could she actually remember what had happened before she had fallen asleep.</p><p>The only thing she knew for certain was the fact that she was not with the other 100. Marie looked around herself, feeling her heart quickening its beat. She could not recognize where she was. She was sitting on some form of bed and her mind registered on how unbelievably fluffy the weird blankets on the bed were, much fluffier than any of the scratchy blankets they had had on the Ark. The smell which hung in the air was weird to her at first.</p><p>But after a moment, Marie began to remember what had happened during the night before. She had lost Clarke and Bellamy out of sight while she had chased behind a butterfly and she had walked endlessly through the forest. Marie frowned down at her hands; her palms were dirty and she could still feel the sting from where she had scraped them open.</p><p>She remembered now that she had encountered a woman in the woods, when she had already thought that she would never find anyone. The woman had the greenest eyes she had ever seen. Marie distinctly remembered that the woman had picked her up, but she could not remember what had happened after that. She guessed that the woman must have brought her here.</p><p>Marie realized that the smell which hung in the air reminded her of the woman, but mixed with something else. Where was this woman?</p><p>When she could not hear anything, Marie frowned. Had the woman left her?</p><p>With that thought, Marie began to cry. What if the woman had left her like her parents had? She would be alone again then. When no one reacted to her cries and Marie was convinced that she was truly alone again, she only cried harder.</p><p>Marie saw what she had assumed to be some kind of wall being moved away all of a sudden and another woman appeared in her vision. She had lighter hair and brown eyes. Marie reached her hands out towards her, wanting to be close to her, but the woman did not move.</p><p>The woman only began to move in her direction when her cries turned even louder and she quitted down again immediately once Marie felt the familiar feeling of being lifted into someone’s arms. She peered at the woman’s face. Her skin had a somehow darker complexion than Marie had ever seen on someone with hair this light. She giggled when the woman’s brows furrowed, finding her expression funny.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa entered the tent in the company of Indra and a handmaid. She had also ordered for a healer to come to her tent later. She wanted to have the girl looked at as she had seen dried blood on her hands.</p><p>What Lexa had not expected though was that Anya had obviously already seen the child as the girl was currently perched on her hip, giggling lightly at the general’s expression. The hint of a smile curled the corners of her lips upwards at the slightly weird and stiff way in which Anya held the girl, as if she had not entirely made up her mind if it might not be better to just drop the girl.</p><p>The handmaid had brought along a tray with some soft bread, cheese, some fruit and a jug with milk for the child, which she placed on a table mutely and waited for further instructions with her head bowed to the ground respectfully.</p><p>The child must have noticed the handmaid first and hid her face against Anya’s neck shyly, not looking in the direction of the stranger.</p><p>Lexa stepped closer to Anya and cleared her throat loudly, alerting the girl to her presence and the girl immediately reached out towards her, a smile on her round features.</p><p>Anya’s brows furrowed even further when Lexa seemed to think nothing of it and casually took over the young girl from her arms. The child appeared happy within the commander’s arms.</p><p>The moment the girl noticed Indra, who was staring at the scene in utter disbelief, a grimace between puzzlement and cautious suspicion clear on her face, was marked down easily by the child’s grey eyes widen in obvious fright and she immediately began to cry again.</p><p>Indra’s brows furrowed together in even deeper confusion, when the commander immediately tried to sooth the crying girl. It was obvious though that Lexa was lacking the experience in handling an upset child this young by the small flash of panic passing through the young leader’s eyes.</p><p>The girl stopped crying after a few moments, but tightly clung to the commander’s coat, face partly hidden against the woman’s neck; she peered over at Indra with wide grey eyes, estimating carefully if the woman really was a threat.</p><p>“No one will harm you here, little one” Lexa addressed the child in English, knowing already from Lincoln that the invaders seemed to know no other language.</p><p>She was rewarded for her efforts with a mute little nod, but the girl seemed unwilling to let go for now, so Lexa simply adjusted her arms so that she could easily hold her in place for a longer time without tiring her arms out too much.</p><p>Indra and Anya had bandied a surprised look, for whatever reason this young child obviously clung to their leader.</p><p>Lexa ignored both of her generals for a moment and instructed the handmaid quickly to make preparations for a bath as well. The girl smelled slightly and her hair appeared dirty as well.</p><p>“<em>I have encountered her some distance from their camp</em>” she turned back around to her generals and casually explained how the child had stumbled behind the butterfly.</p><p>“And what will happen with her now?” Indra questioned with a slightly raised brow. The child was obviously too young to be left alone, neither would she be able to work and contribute yet.</p><p>“<em>We shall see</em>” Lexa answered vaguely after a moment of silence. She did not understand why the girl seemed so trusting of her and as it had appeared Anya as well, but the words to order Indra to look for a place for the little girl had refused to be spoken.</p><p>“<em>Can she speak?”</em> Anya wondered out loud, brown eyes focused on the girl who had taken up to play around with a braid of the commander’s brown locks, obviously fascinated deeply by it.</p><p>“I do not know yet” Lexa answered honestly “<em>She will stay with me…</em>” she exclaimed and when she saw both of the women’s brows raising in confusion and protest, she added “<em>…for now</em>”, but she kept her tone hard, leaving little room for discussion.</p><p>The child seemed to wish to be within her presence and she saw little sense in denying her that, as long as she was in TonDC. Anya would have been another option, but the general already had Tris as her second and the child was too small to fulfil that role just yet.</p><p>“Can you tell me your name, little one?” she questioned the child in a much softer tone, keeping her expression as open and calm as possible.</p><p>“Marie” the child breathed out lowly and Lexa already had to strain her hearing to catch her soft one-worded answer.</p><p>The child’s pronunciation still seemed to need some practise and her “r” sounded off, but it somehow made her simple name sound undeniably cute. </p><p>Lexa smiled gently at the young girl “Are you hungry, Marie?” she asked, pointing over at the table with the tray of food.</p><p>Marie nodded shyly after a moment. Her stomach gave a slight rumbling sound of agreement.</p><p>The child looked so put off by her body’s reaction, that Lexa let go of her with one hand and softly poked at her stomach “You obviously are” she exclaimed with amusement.</p><p>Marie’s round cheeks dusted over with a slight pink and she giggled loudly when Lexa accidentally tickled her.</p><p>Lexa needed a moment to convince the girl to let go of her coat, so that she could even attempt to sit down. She had discarded the idea of getting the girl onto another chair altogether at Marie’s protest and sat down with her, manoeuvring her around, so that she was at least facing the table and sat upright in her lap.</p><p>While Lexa encouraged the girl to try out the food, she spoke a few words with her generals. If possible, she wanted them to catch a few of these invaders for questioning. There might even be a possibility to just let them live.</p><p>Lexa quickly had to hold on to the cup of milk or the girl would probably have spilled all of its content, a part of it already had sloshed over the rim. She had to gently try to keep the girl from wolfing down all the food and the milk. It was more than obvious how thirsty and hungry she had been.</p><p>Anya had lingered behind when Indra had left the commander’s tent, observing the young leader with the small girl. The brunette’s natural talent in handling the child was more than obvious but she still wondered why Lexa had insisted on keeping the girl close. She could understand not leaving her behind alone in the woods at night; even she would not have been heartless enough to leave a defenceless child to predators like that. But that did not warrant letting her stay with her in the commander’s tent. She would think twice about saying that out loud though, Lexa had not reacted too well to critics in the last time.</p><p>“Was there anything else you needed?” Lexa questioned her former mentor, more than aware of the woman’s observation of her.</p><p>Anya huffed under her breath and shook her head, before she strode from the tent mutely.</p><p>Lexa watched her leave with a slight eye-roll, there was nothing which could go wrong with her looking after the girl for a few nights in her mind. There was nothing which could go wrong, wasn’t there?</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Bellamy, for gods sake how are we supposed to reach Mount Weather where we should be able to find supplies with the survivors of earth out there obviously trying to kill us?!” Clarke retorted agitatedly. Their argument had been going on for some time already and it seemed to her as if she could very well have also just argued with one of the trees and received the same reaction. Bellamy was set in his mind that they in fact did not even need the Mountain and their supplies.</p><p>“We do not even know for sure if this facility in Mount Weather has survived the nuclear bombs. What if there are survivors too?” Bellamy argued right back, simply repeating his most pressing point over again.</p><p>Clarke huffed under her breath and rolled her eyes.</p><p>“We have killed the panther! Bellamy continued, trying to convince the blonde girl of his opinion “We can easily…”.</p><p>Clarke held up her hands urgently and her blue eyes flitted around themselves. Once she had rolled her eyes and actually broke eye contact with the unruly haired boy for the first time since they had started their argument, she had had to noticed that they were alone now. Marie was nowhere in sight and no matter how often she looked around themselves, there was absolutely no child around.</p><p>She turned around, trying to look past the trees near them, but it was nearly impossible in the darkness of the night to see very far.</p><p>“What is…?” Bellamy began to ask in honest confusion, but was interrupted by Clarke again.</p><p>“She is gone!” Clarke exclaimed loudly; blue eyes slightly widened in horror as her mind was all so helpful in imagining all which could possibly happen to their youngest member alone out in the woods. The child was completely defenceless. Marie was so young still that Clarke wondered what would be the most likely outcome. For the girl to fall somewhere and hurt herself? For her to be eaten by some kind of predator? Or for her to be killed by the survivors of the old world? Clarke shuddered and huffed again; her mother had personally asked her to look out for the young girl and barely a few days after they had landed on earth, she had lost her already.</p><p>“Marie!” Clarke shouted the little girl’s name loudly into the darkness surrounding them, trying to spot any movement going on around them, internally hoping that the girl was still close enough to hear her shouts. But unfortunately, the forest around them remained silent.</p><p>Bellamy’s brows were furrowed and a clear expression of guilt and worry shimmered within his dark eyes. He had insisted that they were going to see the glowing butterflies with Marie this very night, against Clarke’s clear protests and he had not even paid any attention the young girl after he had begun to argue with Clarke.</p><p>“We could cover more ground if we split up” Bellamy mused with a slight frown, even to his own ears the idea sounded anything but a good idea. None of them could navigate safely through the forest around their landing site and even less so in the dark. If they were to encounter any of the survivors, they would surely be killed before they even saw it coming. Splitting up would probably only make it easier for them to be killed.</p><p>Clarke already shook her head “We can only try to look around” she retorted, voice drawn with worry and she spurred the boy on to get moving. It was clear after all that Marie must have gotten out of earshot. But what if the child had hurt herself badly and was lying somewhere unconscious? She would never hear them shout her name then, but Clarke shooed that thought away. They would find Marie, she could not believe otherwise, they simply had to find her.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa waited until Anya had swept from her tent to try and communicate again with Marie. The little girl seemed to like their food well enough, but she thought it was a good point to open the conversation.</p><p>“Do you like the cheese?” Lexa asked the little girl, having noticed that the child had devoured that at first.</p><p>Marie nodded her head eagerly, licking her fingers off the rest of the cheese. She didn’t know if she had had cheese before, but in her mind, it tasted absolutely divine. It had been relatively hard outside but the inside was soft and extremely creamy.</p><p>“Have you had something like this before?” Lexa asked in a soft tone. She doubted that the child would be able to tell her much about the rest of her people, but maybe she could get to know a few things if she kept on questioning the girl in that fashion.</p><p>Marie shook her head and she pointed towards a fruit she had not tried out yet. It had a strong pink colour and seemed to consist of many many smaller round things, she had never seen such a thing before. She recognized the strawberries from a book, but she did not recognize most of the other fruits on the plate. The soft bread had been extremely tasty too and not comparable at all to what she had eaten on the Ark, most of their food had been some form of paste which had not tasted all that much. She knew from her parents that the Ark did not produce enough natural food resources to feed everyone, so their meals were supplemented with synthetic stuff. She had asked her parents what that meant exactly, but they had told that she would learn later what exactly was made synthetically made on the Ark. Farm Station was responsible for most of that processes, so she would have learned all of that later.</p><p>“What that?” Marie asked, pointing at the fruit again and glancing up at the woman expectantly.</p><p>“A raspberry” Lexa answered easily, encouraging the child to actually try the obviously unknown fruit with a kind smile. She hoped that the child would continue to speak with her.</p><p>But her hope was in vain and Lexa frowned slightly when the child returned to being silent. She knew after all that the girl physically was able to talk and obviously understood English too, but maybe the child was not talkative yet or she was just tired out.</p><p>A few moments later Lexa thought that her last assumption was proven when the girl leaned back against her, still a piece of bread in her small fist.</p><p>Behind them a few women entered the tent, accompanied by a few boys who carried buckets filled with streaming water.</p><p>Marie strongly reacted to their presence and only shortly glanced over, before she buried herself closer to Lexa, hiding herself from view.</p><p>Lexa reassuringly tightened her arms around the girl, signalling mutely that there was nothing she needed to worry over. She did not try to speak with the child now though, sensing that the girl was already slightly uncomfortable with the people around them which were all strangers to her. Internally she wondered again why the child seemed to naturally trust in her now, when she acted so differently towards most of the others.</p><p>Lexa waited until they were alone again in the tent. It did not seem as if the little girl still wished to eat anything. She had not touched the plate in some time now and there was still more than enough offered on it.</p><p>She stood from the chair, turning the girl around again so that she could settle back on her hip. The girl’s grey eyes were focused on her face, obviously waiting in silence on what was happening now. Lexa wondered for a moment if the girl would even know what a bath was. Was there water among the stars?</p><p>Lexa placed the girl onto her feet directly in front of the bathing tube and crouched down beside her.</p><p>The little girl frowned visibly when Lexa reached out to pull her shirt over her head and she actually took a little step backwards, not yet out of Lexa’s reach, but her intent was clear.</p><p>“I am big girl” she intoned vehemently, nodding her head which only made her curls fly around her roundish features. Marie seemed to have understood what Lexa wanted from her without any need for words and the girl began to strip out of her clothes in silence.</p><p>Lexa remained directly in front of the little girl with amusement dancing through her green eyes at the child’s antics. She may be small and young, but she obviously had a mind of her own already. When the child threatened to lose her balance while trying to get out of her trousers, Lexa mutely reached out and steadied the girl with one hand while she helped with the other to pull the trousers off completely.</p><p>Marie smiled almost sheepishly when Lexa had to steady her, but she did not say anything else. She was unsure on what to do now though. She was used to her mother helping her wash herself thorough fully with the weird wipes they used on the Ark.</p><p>Showers were only allowed once a week and the water was strictly regulated, shutting itself off automatically after a certain time. The quarters on the Ark did not contain showers any longer and everyone had to use a specific room with a few rows of that special showers when it was their turn again.</p><p>“Did you have a bath before?” Lexa asked the girl in a kind tone, noting the confusion lingering within her large grey eyes.</p><p>Marie’s head tilted to the side, obviously deep in thought for a long moment, before she finally shook her head with an unsure expression “Only showes” she answered in her high young tone “and the wipes”.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed together as she had no idea what the girl actually meant now. She did not know what “showes” or “wipes” were at all and she worried internally that Marie might in fact actually react with fear to the bath. The bathing tube was relatively large and she would probably have to be careful or the girl would easily be able to drown herself in it.</p><p>“Come here” she instructed the girl in a soft tone and held out a hand towards her to grasp upon. She would need to lift the girl into the bath, there was no way a child this small would be able to climb into the bathing tube without hurting itself by accident.</p><p>Lexa saw immediately that Marie was not at all sure about what was going on and hesitancy was clear within her grey eyes “There is nothing for you to fear, little one” Lexa assured the girl in a gentle tone, giving her small hand a subtle squeeze “I will be here with you the whole time” she added after a moment.</p><p>This last promise seemed to do the trick and Marie let herself willingly be guided to the bathing tube and Lexa took the little girl back into her arms, deciding to let the child have a moment to inspect the obviously foreign object from a safe distance and position.</p><p>Marie looked at the bathing tube with an expression of clear distrust. She could see that this thing was filled with water almost to the brim and she remembered that Octavia had been bitten by some monster living in a river. Would there be a monster in there too? She liked the weird sweet scent the water was having and it seemed to steam, so the air around them was becoming moist and heavy, but she was slightly freaked out by the water itself. The thing looked deeper, deeper than she would probably be able to stand in.</p><p>Lexa carefully began to lower Marie into the direction of the water, but she felt the girl’s body growing tense within her arms almost immediately and the girl’s small hands had balled themselves into fists, bunched tightly around her shirt.</p><p>“It is only a bath, little one” Lexa tried to sooth the obviously frightened child “The water is warm and you will like it” she tried to reassure her further.</p><p>Marie still seemed rather convinced that bathing was absolutely not what she wished to do and she kept her hold on the commander’s shirt stubbornly.</p><p>Lexa sighed slightly under her breath, she had not expected any kind of problems from the girl and she was at a loss on how to convince the girl that she had in fact nothing to fear. She finally gingerly sat down onto the edge of the bathing tube and let go of the girl with one hand, letting her fingers glide visibly over the water surface. “It has a comfortable temperature too” she exclaimed and after a few further minutes she added “You can touch it; the water certainly will not harm you”. The child had followed the movements of her hand with such intensity that Lexa guessed that the girl in fact was interested in the bath, but simply afraid and truly had never seen such a thing before.</p><p>It took another few moments of Lexa gently urging the girl on, until Marie carefully reached out and touched the water, bending over for a second, but immediately recoiling again, as if she was afraid that there was something in the water.</p><p>“What are you afraid of, little one?” Lexa asked, hoping that the girl would clarify what was obviously worrying her.</p><p>“Monster” was the one-worded answer Marie offered and she borrowed herself more tightly back into their embrace.</p><p>The corners of Lexa’s lips twitched with the hint of a smile “There are no monsters in the water” she reassured the little girl in a strong tone and a kind expression.</p><p>Marie looked deeply into her eyes for a long intense silent moment, before the little girl nodded and finally allowed Lexa to lower herself into the bathing tube.</p><p>Lexa smirked slightly when she noticed how tense the girl was for a moment, eyes shut together strongly and even her mouth was pressed into a line, before she carefully opened first one eye, peering around herself in the clear water and finally seemed to relax.</p><p>“See, a bath is nothing to fear” Lexa said after a few silent moments had passed and Marie gave her another sheepish smile “You have truly never had one before?”.</p><p>Marie shook her head “Water resticted” she explained. She knew already that water was an important resource and that it had to be restricted or they would have run out of clean water.</p><p>Lexa nodded her head with a slight frown, filing the little piece of information, hoping to continue to learn bits and pieces of knowledge about the origin of these people and how they were living among the stars.</p><p>She let Marie enjoy her bath for some time, remaining sitting on the edge of the bathing tube, before she took up soap and a washcloth and began to help Marie wash herself.</p><p>The child was obviously very ticklish and giggled a few times whenever Lexa would even lightly touch her side. The commander smiled at the little girl, feeling something long forgotten within herself being warmed again by the child’s light giggles of pure and innocent joy.</p><p>She had just helped Marie from the bath and enveloped the small girl into a towel, when Gustus proclaimed Nyko’s arrival. Marie made a little jump at the unexpected loud voice and immediately moved behind Lexa’s legs, obviously seeking protection from whoever was going to enter the tent.</p><p>Lexa let the girl be for now with a slightly amused smile and called out to Gustus to let Nyko enter. She had been unable to spot any serious injuries beside a few scraps and bruises on the child’s body. Marie seemed to be physically healthy as far as she could tell.</p><p>Nyko thankfully had experience in dealing with shy and small children thanks to his profession as a healer.</p><p>Marie still refused to completely part from Lexa’s side and the healer had to take a look at the girl directly at the commander’s feet. He lightly fell along the scraped skin on the child’s hands and knees, but the girl did not give any indication that it was more than a few scrapes.  </p><p>“Can you tell me how old you are, Marie?” Nyko asked the girl in a kind tone. Lexa had had to tell the healer the girl’s name, as the little girl had resolutely remained silent even after having been asked for her name several times, Lexa’s gentle urgings had not helped either.</p><p>Marie glanced over her shoulder quickly and it took Lexa a moment to identify that the girl was seeking confirmation from her, so she inclined her head with an encouraging expression.</p><p>Marie still bit at her lips for a moment and finally held up one hand, showing all of her fingers, indicating that she was five years old. After she had held up her hand for a moment, she quickly let it fall back to her side again, averting her eyes from Nyko’s probing blue-eyed gaze. The girl hid half of herself behind Lexa’s legs and uncertainly began to fiddle around with a lose threat she had spotted on Lexa’s dark trousers.</p><p>Lexa gently stopped the girl from doing so, by pulling her back into her arms and the child immediately seemed to relax again and her grey eyes now had a rather curious look in them as she scrutinized Nyko.</p><p>The healer left an ointment for the scrapes and had told the commander that the girl seemed uninjured. She was rather small for her age but she did not appear malnourished. Lexa had dismissed him again immediately after he had finished his short report and the girl in her arms had jawed visibly.</p><p>Lexa did not have any clothes for children brought to her tent yet, so she let the girl dress into the smallest dark shirt of herself which she could find among her own clothing. The shirt looked ridiculously large on the girl’s frame though and Marie had giggled again when the shirt fell easily past her knees, giving the impression of a dress instead of a shirt.</p><p>Lexa had contemplated for a moment if it would be a better idea to have the girl sleep in a bedroll of her own, but before she could have made up her mind, the girl had already crawled into the middle of the commander’s bed – she had had the child stand on it to help her dress – and had promptly fallen asleep, a peaceful expression on her young roundish features.</p><p>Lexa had shaken her head with a slight sigh, wondering on the one hand why she had proposed to keep the girl with her at all and on the other side actually enjoying the girl’s company. She joined the child in the bed some time later, careful to have the girl covered in a soft fur to keep her warm and she fell asleep to the girl’s soft regular breathing.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anya returned to TonDC with a slight scowl on her features. Her scouts had reported that the children who had dropped from the sky had been seen roaming through the forest in the middle of the night. So far, they had kept close to their camp during the night and their scouts had easily come closer to the camp without being detected, but last night they had seen several pairs of the outsiders search through the woods. They had obviously been searching for the little girl the commander had brought back with her to TonDC.</p><p>Anya wondered how they could have been careless enough to lose such a small child in the first place. None of their own children would have been left unsupervised at night, the woods were too dangerous of a place to allow that.</p><p>Although they already had had the clear orders to catch some of the outsiders, the guards had hesitated last night. The pairs of them had roamed through the forest too close to each other and the danger of an attack being too loud had been too high of a risk.</p><p>Anya had thought that the outsiders would give up on their search as the night passed but her guards had just told her that new pairs of them were searching again now that the sun was up again and allowed for better sight to look for their missing member.</p><p>She strode towards the commander’s tent and Gustus let her enter without a second of hesitation. Anya knew that she was the only one who was still allowed excess to the commander’s tent without even being announced and it spoke of the remaining levels of trust between them.</p><p>Anya had already opened her mouth to start her report, when she noticed that the young leader was not sitting on her throne, where she expected her to be at this time of the day. She looked around the tent and found it empty. Her scowl changed into a frown of confusion when she noticed that the commander’s usual attire was still lying on one of the chairs and she couldn’t spot any signs that there already had been breakfast delivered to their leader's tent either.</p><p>Her frown only deepened at that, Lexa usually never slept in and the tent had been guarded all through the night, so no one should have been able to enter either. Anya walked over to the sleeping area, wondering if the young brunette might have fallen sick. It was a possibility that the small girl was carrying some form of disease and was already spreading it around.</p><p>Anya did not know what she had expected to find, but she had never expected the sight which actually met her eyes. The commander indeed was asleep, lying on her back in the middle of the bed, brown hair fanned out around her. The aspect which had astounded Anya like that and prompted an expression of pure surprise to settle onto her features though was the little girl sleeping with Lexa in the bed. The child was not lying next to Lexa, but directly lying on top of her. Her little head was pillowed by the commander’s softly rising and falling chest and both of them appeared utterly at peace.</p><p>Anya remained standing in front of the bed in silence, stunned internally for long moments. She had never imagined Lexa with a child. Of course, a commander would never have a family, so it had made little sense to picture such a future for her former second. All she could have hoped for was that her former second would win the conclave and rise to be the next commander and Lexa had succeeded, becoming an even greater leader than she could have ever imagine in her wildest dreams. Lexa had always been good with younger children though, keeping an eye out for her younger nightblood brothers in sisters during her time in Polis.</p><p>She did not know what might have woken the little girl, but the next thing Anya knew was that she was looking at the girl and her bright grey eyes looked right back at her. She was surprised to see a blinding smile rise on the child’s roundish features at being noticed, but before she could think of something to say to the girl, Marie jawed slightly, cuddled closer to Lexa and her eyes fell close again. It seemed to take the little girl barely a minute until her breathing had evened out again and she had obviously fallen back asleep.</p><p>Lexa woke to the feeling of a warm slight weight moving on top of her and during the process of waking up completely, she felt herself hugging the little body on top of her tighter almost as if out of a deeper instinct.</p><p>Anya watched from her observative place a slight distance in front of the bed how Lexa slowly awoke fully. The obvious confusion for a moment on the commander’s face at noticing the little girl sleeping peacefully on her own chest and realizing that she had actively cuddled with the child probably through the whole night, was almost amusing to watch.</p><p>Lexa’s slight movements in turn jostled Marie awake for another moment. The girl’s huge grey eyes blinked open and immediately connected with the commander’s green ones and another bright smile illuminated her roundish features.</p><p>Lexa just now realized how little dimples formed on the child’s cheeks and she felt an answering smile tug at her own lips, which only prompted the little girl to giggle lightly for a moment which promptly turned into another slight yawn. She watched with internal fascination how the child’s eyes fell close again and her little body seemed to almost meld perfectly with her own and against her own conscious will Lexa felt a deep feeling of attachment bloom within her chest, warming her heart again. The girl was so young still, so innocent and pure and Lexa wanted to protect her, make sure that she would not be harmed and would remain this smiling adorable little girl for a little while longer.</p><p>The scary part of this train of thought was how easily Lexa could imagine how Marie would remain with her, which only told her that a part of her wished for exactly this outcome. She could raise the girl herself just as if she were her own child by flesh and blood. Lexa slightly shook her head, shooing the thoughts from her mind. She had never before pictured a future for herself which included a child this close to herself and it would be foolish of her to believe in it now. They barely knew anything of the girl.</p><p>Her scouts had not spotted any adults among the people from the sky. It was entirely possible in her mind that more of them would come to the ground and Marie could still be having a family among the stars. Titus would surely never agree to have Marie stay with her either.</p><p>Anya had watched the emotions flicker through her former second’s green eyes and she had felt distinct sympathy grow within her own heart at the child’s honest and open smile, having been directed to herself only moments before. She felt hope for their young leader settle within her own mind, Lexa had been wandering a dangerous path since Costia’s death and one of her greatest strength had always been her compassion and she had chosen to ignore this often in the last time. A frown settled onto her features though when the slight flicker of hope vanished from the brunette’s green eyes, replaced with a more resolute and colder expression.</p><p>Anya straightened herself and cleared her throat lowly. She knew that it would be pointless to try to get out of the tent without Lexa noticing.</p><p>The commander’s eyes narrowed at the sound and her features became even more guarded, which only lessened a little when she realized that it was only Anya standing beside the bed with a neutral expression.</p><p>Lexa was powerless to stop the feeling of connection from strengthening further, when she carefully moved the little sleeping girl from her chest and gently placed her onto the mattress beside herself. The child let out a slight sound of clear displeasure and immediately clutched at the fur around herself, making herself small under it and her face was still scrunched up into an adorable grimace when Lexa quickly slid out from under the furs, before the child could scoot over again to return to cuddling with her.</p><p>“What is it?” she asked briskly, trying to force her expression back into blankness and somehow failing at it horribly when she caught the girl seemingly reaching blindly over to the place where she had been moments ago from the corners of her eyes.</p><p>“The rest of her people have been searching for her all through the night and are still at it currently” Anya relayed what the scouts had told her in a calm tone, glancing over the sleeping little girl. She doubted that it would be long before the child woke up for good, judging from her expression she was not feeling too well alone in the bed.</p><p>Lexa frowned at that piece of new information. It would actually be sort of logical from a strategical way of thinking to hand Marie back over to these strangers and use this meeting as a way to meet in peace. But she did not really know yet how the child had actually stumbled upon herself last night in the forest. It spoke of great carelessness of these people to have lost such a young child and let her wander the forest alone and defenceless. They had lost the girl because of their own shortcomings and she could only wonder if such a thing would repeat itself only shortly later if she truly handed the girl back over. Lexa discarded that idea again vehemently; she would not just hand the girl over to people who were obviously incapable of taking good care of her.</p><p>“Have our warriors brought some of them here yet?” she questioned next. Someone else who was a little older would surely be able to give real informative answers to their questions.</p><p>Anya shook her head in the negative “They have roamed the forest too close to each other to allow that without alerting a larger group of the invaders”.</p><p>Lexa nodded in acknowledgement. She really wanted to learn more about these strangers and not just because this knowledge could be vital to protect her own people accordingly. Their scouts had reported that the invaders were careless and loud, they did not seem to possess the most basic skills on how to navigate and survive in the woods. They seemed incapable of hunting and they made their way through the forest as if they owned it.</p><p>She moved over to the water basin and washed herself quickly unimpaired by Anya still standing beside the bed whose attention seemed to be focused on Marie anyway.</p><p>Anya’s internal prediction proved to be true and Marie sat up in the bed only shortly later, rubbing her eyes with her small hands tightened to fists and a scowl had settled onto her features when she looked at the empty furs beside her and Anya’s lips ghosted upwards into a smile at the undeniably adorable expression on the young girl’s face.</p><p>Marie pouted for a moment, before she looked away from the bed and her grey eyes flitted over her surroundings. A smile replaced her pout when she noticed that Anya was still there, but her expression changed again when her eyes turned to Lexa, who was occupied with combing out her long brown hair.</p><p>“Back!” Marie exclaimed in a demanding tone, surprising Anya with the way the little girl seemed to try to order their leader around, neither of them actually understood what the child wanted at all.</p><p>“Come back!” Marie repeated, voice rising a little higher in emphasis and although her tone was definitely demanding, her grey eyes and whole expression was pleading “More sleep” she added a second later, when both women still looked at her with confusion.</p><p>Anya chuckled under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest to appear at least a little less confused at the openly perplexed expression on Lexa’s features at the child’s clear demand to be allowed to cuddle longer with her.</p><p>“No, Marie” Lexa finally answered, shaking her head in the negative with a kind expression and when the child still looked at her with those large pleading eyes, she added “It is time to get up now, little one”.</p><p>“But…” Marie began in a slightly whiny one and a pout formed again “…’m tired”.</p><p>Lexa’s expression turned softer “You can sleep some more, if you want” she offered easily.</p><p>“Not a’one” Marie shook her head in the negative and she seemed to roll her eyes dramatically as she huffed and shoved the fur down her little body.</p><p>Lexa immediately stepped closer to the bed and helped Marie down from it, not wanting to take the chance that the little girl would just tumble out of it and hurt herself during the fall. She led the girl over to the water basin and instructed her to wash herself; after last night she did not want to assume that the little girl would need help, she would probably say so if that was the case.</p><p>Anya watched the girl in silence, while Lexa finished taking out her braids. It seemed as if the child was searching for something and it took only another moment until Marie looked between the both of them with a questioning expression.</p><p>“What do you need?” Lexa asked, comb still in her hand above her head.</p><p>“Have to bush tif” Marie answered with a slight frown. Her mother had always made her do that on all mornings and evenings.</p><p>Anya’s brows furrowed together in confusion, having absolutely no clue as to what the girl wanted and Lexa did not seem to have understood it either.</p><p>“You don’t bush tif?” Marie asked with a deeper frown and held her hand over her mouth at the end, clearly appalled at the thought.</p><p>“We do not know what you mean with “bush tif”” Lexa answered for both of them.</p><p>Marie’s frown remained on her features, while she opened her mouth and moved one hand to it, mimicking the motion of a brush and moving it over her teeth.</p><p>Anya burst out laughing only a few seconds later and Lexa chuckled under her breath too. The girl’s pronunciation had been so off, that it had literally been impossible to understand her words if you were not familiar with her way of speaking. The child obviously had creativity and intellect though to think of demonstrating what she wanted like that.</p><p>Although Marie did not understand why the two women were laughing, it took her only a second until she joined them in their laughter and the child’s laughter was bright and filled with pure joy. Her eyes were almost fully closed at it and her laughter sounded even slightly hysterical and only increased in intensity.</p><p>Both of them watched Marie go about washing herself in silence, both lost in their own thoughts concerning the little blonde girl and how she could somehow stay with them.</p><p>“She will need other clothes” Lexa said with a slight grimace as she picked up the clothes the child had worn the day before. They were rather grimy and definitely needed at least a wash, better to have them replaced all together at once.</p><p>“I will see if I can find something for her now” Anya offered and turned around to leave the tent.</p><p>Lexa quickly asked her general to sent in her handmaid and have breakfast delivered as well if she was already at it.</p><p>Marie watched the other woman leave with a slight frown; she had wanted both of them to stay with her.</p><p>“Marie” Lexa addressed the girl in a soft tone, catching the child’s attention “why were you alone in the forest last night?” she asked, wanting to know now what had actually happened.</p><p>“Lost Be’amy and Cla’ke” Marie answered. She had finished washing herself and stepped closer to Lexa, who was sitting on a stool currently “They showed me the butterfies” she added with shining grey eyes, still enamoured with the glowing creatures.</p><p>Lexa nodded with a slightly thoughtful expression, whoever these two people were, they had obviously neglected to keep watch over the child or she could not have gotten lost at all.</p><p>“O’tavia had seen them ‘nd told me” Marie explained in an important tone.</p><p>“Are those your family?” Lexa asked curiously and she lifted a brow in surprise when the child ended up standing between her legs, leaning herself back so that she was practically standing against her chest now. It seemed that the child was seeking physical contact and the almost pleading gaze thrown at her over her shoulder, easily told Lexa that the little girl was not yet satisfied with their amount of contact. She sighed mutely under her breath, before she pulled the girl back onto her lap and immediately the child smiled happily again.</p><p>Marie shook her head in the negative, but stayed silent and Lexa decided not to press this question for now. She could ask her about her family later still.</p><p>Anya returned only a short moment later; one of the inhabitants of TonDC had been kind enough to willingly offer some clothes of his own children which they had outgrown only recently.</p><p>Marie seemed excited to be gifted with other clothes and she barely stood still for a second while Anya tried to help her get dressed.</p><p>The child’s fidgeting ceased immediately though when a handmaid entered, carrying breakfast. Marie immediately turned tense and her grey eyes followed the woman’s every move cautiously.</p><p>“They should do for now” Anya assessed with an appreciative nod. The clothes were fitting the little girl well enough and the child immediately looked as if she could be one of their own, although hair this light was unseen among Trikru.</p><p>Lexa nodded as well, dismissing the general with the gesture, while she addressed Marie “Come here, little one, and eat some breakfast”.</p><p>Marie surprised both of them, when she hesitated next to Anya, who had just turned around, and before the woman could have moved out of her reach, she tucked at the hem of the general’s shirt. She knew that the woman was leaving again, but she did not want that. “Eat” she said demandingly and slightly pulled at the shirt in the direction of the table.</p><p>Lexa’s brows were slightly raised in surprise, but she nodded her head again. She had nothing against Anya staying to share breakfast and it seemed that Marie was wishing for that, so she would have it.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anya sat down at the table in the commander’s tent with a faint smile. It was obvious that the little girl was highly appreciating her presence from her expression and she had to fight her own smile from wanting to turn into an amused smirk, when the little child stepped over to Lexa with an expectant expression.</p><p>Marie leaned lightly against the woman’s legs, wanting to sit on her lap again like she had done during the previous meal last night. Her father had allowed her to sit like this on days she had not felt too well and she had always enjoyed these moments and his strong presence. She looked at the commander with her big grey eyes and her mouth had pulled into a pleading pout when Lexa mutely stared down at her for a long silent moment and slight confusion had clouded the woman’s green eyes. Marie pouted stronger at that and raised her arms towards the woman for clarification. She did not want to just try and climb onto the woman’s lap. What if she would just push her down in rejection?</p><p>Her pout vanished and was replaced with a pleased and thankful smile when the commander finally hoisted her onto her lap and turned her around so that she was sitting with her back leaned against her strong chest.</p><p>Anya watched the scene with warmth within her brown eyes and she felt her heart warm a little more towards the little blonde girl. Lexa had almost automatically looped one arm around the small girl’s body, securing her in place safely.</p><p>It was obvious that Lexa had already shared a meal with the girl and to Anya it looked rather cute how the brunette loaded one big plate for both of them to share and always waited for Marie to take whatever she wished, before Lexa herself took something. She could vividly imagine Lexa sharing her life with the small girl from now on and she wondered internally if such would be possible. She did not understand why Marie seemed set on including her, but she would not question it for now, it might also work to bring her closer to Lexa again. She knew that her former second had been shouldering the burden of her position alone since she had lost Costia and she wanted to be there to help her again.</p><p>Anya did not know though if Lexa already had made a decision concerning the girl’s fate or not, just because she had insisted to keep the child around last night did not have to mean that she would want to take care of her permanently.</p><p>“Marie, can you tell me something about the rest of the people who have come to earth with you?” Lexa asked into the easy silence after long moments. She had waited to open a conversation for some time, wanting to make sure that the child would feel comfortable and already had eaten something.</p><p>Marie halted in her eating, swallowing down the bread she had been munching on loudly. She thought about what she actually could answer. She did not know many of the others at all. “We all send down to see if eath is suvivable” she finally said, simply repeating what she had heard from the others.</p><p>Lexa and Anya bandied a mute look. If the people from the sky wanted to know if earth was survivable, the logical consequence would be that they were planning to come down.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed in rising worry. She highly doubted that all of the people from there would be untrained youths who did not pose much a threat. She wondered what kind of people would consider their own youths expendable enough to send them unprepared into a possible suicide mission. Her own people treasured their children greatly as the children were the ones who would be their future and that needed to be protected.</p><p>She would need to find out just how many people were living in the sky above them though. She highly doubted that Marie would be able to supply reliable information on this, the girl was too young to understand such things.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath, she knew that she had to ask the next question, but a part of her was fearing its answer. “Are your parents with the rest of your people in the sky?” she asked, voice wavering the slightest bit and she subconsciously tightened her arm around the little girl, bringing them a tiny bit closer together still.</p><p>Anya watched the girl’s content expression fall completely in the blink of an eye and she sucked in a surprised breath at how fast the child’s features were filled almost palpable anguish instead.</p><p>“Abby said they dead" Marie said after a moment of silence and her voice had grown low and wavered, obviously not far from bursting out into tears. “Guars said they not coming back...” the little girl stopped for a moment and her large grey eyes were filled with tears as she looked between Lexa and Anya in silence. She hitched out a slight sob, not yet fully crying and exclaimed “When they gonna come back? I won’t be bad girl anymoe...” and she finally lost the fight against her tears and they began to roll down her round cheeks, while sobs shook her whole body.</p><p>Anya felt a deep kind of sympathy root itself within her heart for the little girl who was obviously an orphan then. It was apparent that Marie lacked understanding of the concept of what death actually meant and she felt a painful tug at her heart at what the child had just said. It was obvious that Marie somehow believed that her parents had gone away because of something she had done and had purposefully left her naughty child behind, not wanting her any longer. She knew of course that the girl could not have possible done anything for her parents to willingly abandon her like that and she knew that they would have to explain gently to Marie that death did not mean going away in the sense of going to another physical place from which you could return again.</p><p>Lexa brought her other arm around the girl as well and her own movements had prompted Marie to turn around in her lap and the child was now almost desperately clutching her shirt between her little fists, crying her heart out leaned against her chest.</p><p>Lexa let her hands rub soothing cycles on the little girl’s back while she whispered reassurances into her ears in a gentle tone. She knew that right at this moment her exact wording did not matter at all, she doubted that the child was truly listening to what she said, but it mattered more that she was trying to sooth her at all and giving her some comfort.</p><p>She felt sorry to hear that the little girl has lost her parents already. From the way Marie had reacted, Lexa was relatively certain that the loss had been recent as well.</p><p>Death was no stranger to the world in which she herself had grown up in and Lexa had lost her parents so early that she had lost all memory of them, could not even remember how their faces had looked like at all. Their own children came into contact with death very early as well and Lexa was fairly certain that children at Marie’s age already had a better understanding of death than the blonde little girl had.</p><p>Lexa tightened her arms around the little girl as she tried to sooth her, letting her cry as long as she needed to now and she felt the decision settle into her mind that she wanted to be the one to take care of Marie. It was obvious that the youths who had come down to earth with the little girl were not suitable to take care of her or they would not have lost her like that. She did not know if the child might have other family still among her people in the sky, but she could also not factor in what would happen once these people landed on earth.</p><p>It took Marie a rather long time until her heart-wrenching sobs finally died down and the child still kept her hands fisted into Lexa’s shirt.</p><p>“You have not been a bad girl, little one” Lexa tried to convince the girl in a gentle tone, wanting to bring it across that her parent’s absence was not her fault.</p><p>Marie’s grey eyes were red-rimmed and puffy when she looked up at the woman after a moment and she sniffled under her breath. “Why they gone then?” she retorted in a weak tone, desperately wanting to understand “Where Mommy and Daddy gone?”</p><p>Lexa hesitated for a long moment, she could not answer Marie’s first question as she of course did not possess any information concerning the child’s parents’ death and it did not seem as if Marie would be able to give them any information about it.</p><p>Anya sighed under her breath “Marie” she addressed the girl and waited until the child’s watery grey eyes had locked with hers “Do you know what death means?” she asked the girl in a firm tone, expecting a verbal answer from her.</p><p>Marie pouted for a moment before she repeated what her mother had told her about their old neighbour “Going away … and not returning” by the end her lower lip trembled again precariously.</p><p>Anya nodded with an appreciative expression simply for the fact that the child had given her an answer at all. “Someone who is dead cannot return, yes, and they are no longer with us” she tried to explain, keeping her words as simply as she knew how to and speaking them clearly “but it does not mean purposefully going away to another physical space. Your parents have not wanted to leave you, Marie. Do you understand that?”</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side for a long moment and it seemed as if there were gears visibly turning within her mind, before she squinted her eyes in concentration “But where are they?” she retorted and her voice had taken on a clearly frustrated edge. She hoped that Anya was right and her parents had not willingly left her as she could not remember what she done for them to leave her.</p><p>“We believe that the souls of the dead leave the body, to be reborn at one point” Anya added after a moment, but Marie’s expression quickly told her that she had only confused the girl.</p><p>Lexa shook her head slightly at her general “Your parents will be watching over you from the stars now” she tried to clarify their deaths in other words.</p><p>Marie mulled the woman’s words over in silence and her expression looked crestfallen again “They are not gonna come back?” she asked one last time, still somehow hoping that they would.</p><p>Lexa shook her head in the negative with a grave expression, keeping her green eyes compassionate. She waited for Marie to react to that realization, but the child just looked deeply sad and leaned back against her chest in silence, obviously simply wanting to be close to her. Lexa let her do as she wished and continued to rub along the girl’s back reassuringly, while she let the fingers of her other hand card through the child’s blonde curls.</p><p>Anya continued with her own breakfast in silence for long moments, it did not seem as if Lexa intended to encourage the girl to continue eating. A slight smile returned to her own features, when she spotted how Marie finally let go of Lexa’s shirt and began to play with Lexa’s hair instead, again taking particular interest in the commander’s braids.</p><p>They were both surprised when the child spoke up on her own after a prolonged silence “Can I have hair like that?” Marie asked, holding up one of Lexa’s thin braids for emphasize of what she was referring to.</p><p>“Your hair is blonde, Marie” Lexa retorted a little absentmindedly; her thoughts had mostly spun around the people still in the sky and what they could mean to her coalition.</p><p>Marie’s lips thinned a little at the unsatisfactory answer and she tugged at the braid within her fingers. She did not know how this was called or why the woman’s hair was in this shape, but it looked pretty and she wanted the same.</p><p>Lexa looked visibly startled for a moment and gently removed her hair from the child’s grip, Marie had not even pulled gently at it and she frowned, wondering if she would be required to teach the child some basic manners too. She would already be met with contradictions from all sides when she would proclaim her intention to keep the child as her protégé of sorts, but if Marie misbehaved in public, it could be particularly bad for herself.</p><p>“She means your braids” Anya breathed out, trying hard not to break out into a fit of laughter at Lexa’s earlier shocked expression, while Marie had appeared even slightly angered at the commander’s clear disability to understand her.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed together, while Marie nodded enthusiastically and she quickly reached out and grabbed hold again of one of the brown braids – she repeated the foreign word within her mind for a few times, trying to memories what it stood for – and she wanted exactly this kind, she wanted them to be like Lexa’s.</p><p>Anya quickly noticed by the child’s insistence that she wanted her hair to look exactly like Lexa’s and she had emphasized that a few times clearly, that the girl actually just wanted to look like Lexa in general and she found the idea rather cute, although she would not say that out loud.</p><p>Lexa had readily agreed to put some braids into the little girl’s hair if she insisted on it. She was hesitant though of trying to replicate her own hairstyle. The hairstyle a commander wore, was usually unique and no warrior would dare to presume to be allowed to wear it as well.</p><p>“I can create a style just for you” Lexa offered to the girl with a smile. They had finished with breakfast for now and she was standing behind Marie and carefully combed through her blonde locks.</p><p>Marie shook her head in the negative “Like yours” she retorted and her pronunciation of “yours” sounded more like “youths”.</p><p>Anya had remained within the commander’s tent and watched Lexa trying to convince the child of a different hairstyle, which clearly had been a lost cause right from the beginning, with amusement dancing through her brown eyes. The little girl clearly had a strong will already and no matter with what Lexa tried to convince her, the child stayed true to her opinion and only seemed to get slightly frustrated that the commander was still arguing with her at all.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath and finally nodded her head in internal defeat. She could have of course denied the child, but she did not want to do that. She wanted to make Marie smile and not make her cry, which she actually regarded as a rather probable outcome if she were to deny her.</p><p>It took Lexa a little while to braid all of the design into the girl’s blonde locks and she had to give Marie credit for having sat utterly still the whole time. “All done” she finally proclaimed and took a step back rom the little girl to inspect her own work from a farther distance and she nodded her head in mute approval.</p><p>Marie looked excited now and her earlier tears were clearly forgotten for now. She very carefully touched her hands along the braids, trying to memorize how they felt like. She turned over to face Anya and immediately asked “How’d I look?” voice hopeful and grey eyes shining.</p><p>Anya inclined her head in approval “The look suits you” she awkwardly commented after a short moment of silence.</p><p>Marie’s smile dimmed for a moment, before it turned hopeful again “Like Lexa?” she questioned.</p><p>“Just like her” Anya agreed with a smile and Marie let out a small whooping sound of excitement.</p><p>“Thank you” Marie spoke her gratitude to Lexa with a bright smile and still felt along the braids.</p><p>“Keep your hand off of the design or it will quickly look messy” Lexa warned the girl in a kind tone and the child let her hands drop back down immediately with a definite frown.</p><p>“You have not seen TonDC yet” Lexa said, trying to divert the child’s attention again and she was immediately successful.</p><p>Marie wondered what TonDC actually was and looked up at the woman with big grey eyes filled with curiosity and interest.</p><p>Lexa offered a hand for the little girl to take “Come on and let me show it to you” she said in a kind tone and with an open expression.</p><p>Marie did not even hesitate a second before she grasped onto the woman’s hand.</p><p>Anya stood up as well, wanting to accompany Lexa with the little girl. She highly doubted that the people of TonDC would show a negative reaction to such a young child, but everything was possible and she wanted to see Indra’s expression once she recognized the commander’s hairstyle on the child.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marie held on tightly to Lexa’s hand and she blinked her eyes a few times, trying to adjust her sight to the bright sunlight outside of what she now recognized was in fact a large tent. The first thing she noticed beside them was a burly man. She clutched the woman’s hand a little tighter, when his dark eyes connected with her own and Marie instinctively tried to hide behind her legs.</p><p>Anya watched the little girl’s antics with amusement dancing through her brown eyes. It was blatantly obvious that the little girl had taken to the commander and felt safe in her presence. Lexa appeared perplexed by the little blonde child, but still allowed her to draw comfort from her.</p><p>Lexa waited with moving on until she felt the small girl relax at least slightly next to her, shooting Gustus a mute warning glare to keep him silent and in place. It was obvious that the man was unsure of what to make out of the situation. She gave the child’s small chubby hand a squeeze in mute reassurance before she urged her gently to move away from the tent.</p><p>The moment Marie’s presence was finally noticed by the inhabitants of TonDC was easy to pinpoint. People who had previously been occupied, suddenly stopped what they were doing, and all eyes seemed to turn towards them.</p><p>Lexa was of course used to her people’s reaction to her own presence and she mostly kept her expression calm and blank, including her head in acknowledgement to those who had greeted her previously.</p><p>Marie in the other hand obviously was not used to such a reaction and the small girl stiffened visibly under all those scrutinizing gazes, trying to hide once again behind the commander’s legs and going as far as pressing her face against Lexa’s knees.</p><p>Lexa looked down at the child in rising worry, alarmed by her frightened reaction. No one had actually moved in their direction, so there had not been any obvious threat. She was unsure on how to proceed now. In the privacy of her tent, she would not have hesitated to bend down and try to sooth the child, bit she knew that Marie needed to be accepted by their people, if she wanted the child to stay. She let her eyes travel around them quickly and was happy to note that the others seemed more surprised and interested than anything else. Judging the people’s reaction here, would give her a good guess on how Marie would most likely be welcomed within the capitol once they moved back to Polis.</p><p>Anya quickly kneeled down behind Lexa, putting a hand on the child’s back in mute comfort. She had sensed her previous second’s hesitation and wanted to put the little blonde girl at ease, before she could begin once again to cry. “It is alright, little one" she tried to calm the frightened child in a soft tone “You will be safe here" she added after a second.</p><p>Marie needed a moment, before she hesitantly lifted her head and looked up at the other woman with slightly widened grey eyes. She still kept one hand clutched tightly within the commander’s dark trousers, while she almost on instinct reached out and grabbed one of the general's hands, before she shyly looked around. Marie visibly tried to keep her head up proudly; someone must have already taught her that she should not display her fear so obviously. But it was understandable for the small child to be overwhelmed and unnerved by this undoubtedly new experience.</p><p>Once Marie let go of the commander’s trousers, she grasped hold of one of her hands instead.</p><p>Lexa and Anya both allowed the child mutely and without a comment to keep hold of their hands, while they slowly began to make their way through TonDC.</p><p>It was obvious how fascinated Marie was by her new surroundings and she kept on looking around almost frantically, grey eyes wide and shining with curiosity.</p><p>Marie was visibly intimidated once they encountered Indra. The dark-skinned general had obviously heard of the child’s presence before and only observed the girl with a judging stare in silence for a moment, before she quickly began her report to the commander about what the shouts had observed of the outsiders.</p><p>Marie titled her head to the side only really realizing now that she was unable to understand what the people around her said. The language sounded harsh and clipped.</p><p>Lexa listened to Indra's report with a part of her attention still focused on the little girl holding onto her hand. It was obvious that the child was interested in her surroundings and with their reassurance she did not appear cowered any longer, her curiosity obviously winning out on her shyness for the moment. She internally wondered how the little girl would be behaving right now, if they just left her alone for a moment, but she did not wish to test the child either.</p><p>The invaders who had landed with Marie on their lands were still searching for their missing member, but the scouts had detected that the numbers of those searching for the child were already declining.</p><p>Lexa inclined her head mutely, expression blank and calm while she internally was even a little angry on the girl’s behalf. The invaders had just searched for her through the night and were already giving up. Her lips thinned slightly in growing irritation. She could not understand why such a young child had been among a group of obviously irresponsible and undisciplined youths to start with. It did not lead her to think too highly of the people which were still living among the stars.</p><p>Marie rather quickly became bored by trying to this strange language she did not understand a word of. She looked up at the general, noting on the dagger strapped to her thigh and the sword which hung from her belt. She had not even noticed the weapons beforehand. She wondered why she was wearing weapons and if she actually used them.</p><p>Marie could still remember a certain fairy-tale her father had read to her in the past. It had been about a princess who had been enchanted to sleep until her prince would give her a kiss. The prince had battled with a dragon using a sword and she now wondered if Anya also had to fight with dragons. Were there dragons here? She knew in theory that dragons were just creatures of fairy-tales and did not exist in reality, but she had heard Clarke tell the others about the two-headed deer they had seen somewhere, so, maybe it was possible that such a thing as a dragon could exist now.</p><p>She began fidgeting in place in growing boredom, tugging lightly at the hands of both women. She could see a few other children and it appeared as if they were playing some game with each, but they all seemed way older than her. Marie hoped that there would also be children her own age, she would love to have someone to play together with again. She did not recognize what the children were playing and she did not know if they would consider letting her join in their play or not.</p><p>Anya looked down at the girl with a slight frown, the child had behaved absolutely well so far and she followed the girl’s gaze. Marie seemed highly interested in the group of the youngest seconds in TonDC, the children had already gathered and were playing a little game in the time until someone would begin their training. The children were still too young to have been appointed a real first and were all trained together by whoever had the time to take care of them.</p><p>The general continued to listen to Indra’s report, when she heard her relate that Lincoln was missing and no one had seen the man since his last scouting mission.</p><p>“<em>Mother</em>, <em>the others are already there</em>” Marie’s attention was caught by a boy coming out of a hut to their left, a woman was still holding his hand and the boy obviously wanted to go and join the others. She did not understand what he had just said, but he seemed eager to get away, while the woman retorted something in this unfamiliar language and adjusted the boy’s vest. One of the words the boy had just used stuck in her mind for some reason; “nomon” she let it resonate internally through her head a few times, trying to get familiar with the word and wondering all that much more what it meant. Could it have been a name?</p><p>Marie’s eyes widened visibly, once she watched the boy join the rest of the group of children – she absentmindedly wondered what the boy had said – and her gaze fell onto horses. She tugged at Lexa’s and Anya’s hands again, wanting to go over to the horses. She had read about them in books and she had already seen picture of horses, but she had never seen one in real life.</p><p>Both women did not react to her tugging and Marie pouted, letting go of their hands instead and she immediately turned around, walking away from Lexa and Anya and towards the horses quickly.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Indra fell silent almost on instinct when the little child moved away from the commander and the general, she had been surprised to see the girl so nonchalantly hold both of the women’s hands. It was obvious that the child was content in the presence of both women.</p><p>The girl’s steps seemed a little wobbly, as if she was not used to walking quickly like that and she did not appear disturbed by the people around her watching her now, the horses were obviously too captivating now.</p><p>Indra had seen the child last night in the commander’s tent dressed in the clothes of the invaders and seeing her moments ago practically clinging to the young leader and the general had truly been a sight to behold.</p><p>She could still remember how Lexa had been as a child at the age the blonde girl was now. The girl’s grey eyes showed a similar curiosity and it was obvious that all the sights were new to her. She just could not understand why the commander was bothering with the child at all as there could not be a logical reason for it.</p><p>“Marie, wait” Anya called behind the girl in a slightly raised tone. The girl probably had never seen horses before and she highly doubted that the child was aware of the dangers if she spooked a horse.</p><p>It did not appear as if the general’s words had any effect on the child though, as the girl did not even turn around or stop at all.</p><p>Before Anya or Lexa could make up their mind if they needed to follow the girl or not – Marie could just stay in front of the fence and just watch the horses after all – a group of scouts returned to TonDC and Lexa immediately recognized Sierra among them. Years ago, she had trained together with Gustus’ daughter, becoming friends during that time. Now, she kept the young woman around as one of their best scouts and she still trusted her.</p><p>Lexa had turned around to shortly hear the report of the scouts, but she still watched Marie from the corners of her eyes with growing worry and with each passing second her patience thinned to have to stay in place and listen to the report. It did not sound as if the invaders had caused too much trouble yet, it was alarming though that Lincoln was truly missing.</p><p>She had hoped that the child would just go over to the group of seconds, wanting to play with them, but it was obvious now that Marie intended to get to her war horses. Barely a moment later the child had already reached the fence and without a moment of hesitation, the girl had slipped through the fence and stood directly in front of one of her war horses. Her horses were usually only looked after by the most experienced groom and that for good reason. They were all trained against abduction and only trusted herself fully, merely tolerating a few other people to take care of them.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie barely heard Anya call out to her, the woman’s voice registered in her mind, but she had not sounded really angry and the horses were so close to her already. She had read so much about them and beside the butterflies and a few birds, she had not seen any living animals yet.</p><p>Marie hesitated for the fraction of a moment in front of the fence. Now that she stood directly in front of the fence, the horses looked so much bigger and she really had to crane her neck to look up to the animals. Unfortunately, she could not see the animals really well from this position, as the fence was still in the way and blocking her view.</p><p>Marie huffed in slight irritation and decided to simply climb through the fence which allowed her enough space to do so. She leaned back against the fence from the other side and her mouth formed a little o-shape of astonishment. She was directly faced with a huge black horse.</p><p>The animal had obviously noticed her too and moved its enormous head down towards her, sniffing at her head, before blowing out a large bout of air, straight into Marie’s face.</p><p>Marie immediately began to giggle at the weird sensation, which only seemed to prompt the horse to do it again. Her giggles turned into bright laughter the second time the horse blew its breath into her face, tickling her skin in the process and Marie reached out, carefully letting her fingers connect with the horse’s nose.</p><p>“Hello, horse” Marie greeted the animal in a soft tone, caressing over the amazingly soft skin of the horse, feeling how silky its dark fur was.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya’s brows had furrowed in irritation at being blatantly ignored by the small girl, but she could probably not expect obedience from the child yet. Her irritation was replaced with a bitter feeling of almost fear for the girl when the child just climbed into the fence with the commander’s war horses. One glance at Lexa told her that her previous second was having similar thoughts and without a word, they both left Indra, Sierra and the other scouts stand where they were and hurried over to the horses, hoping that they would not need to protect the child.</p><p>Lexa stopped in front of the fence to her horses with a frown, when she heard the girl’s audible giggles and laughter coming from the other side of the fence.</p><p>They were thankfully not greeted with the sight of the child being trampled to death by the war horses, but Marie seemed to be petting one of the horses instead and the horse just seemed to be interested in the small child, but nothing else.</p><p>Lexa stopped Anya from reprimanding the girl. Her horses rarely accepted a stranger in their vicinity just like that and she trusted their judgement. Her mare obviously did not feel threatened by the child and must feel a trustworthy soul in the little girl. Marie also did not seem intimidated at all, but appeared to truly enjoy herself.</p><p>The child was standing on her tiptoes, trying to reach up as high as her small built allowed and she caressed the black horse with her full attention on the mare.</p><p>Lexa joined the child on the other side of the fence and crouched down next to the girl. “Have you seen horses before?” the commander asked the young girl in a soft tone. She reached out with one arm and pulled the girl closer to herself, so that Marie leaned against one of her legs and she held one arm around the girl’s small body.</p><p>Marie shook her head in the negative, a big smile still on her face, when the horse blew out another large breath into her face “It tickles” she retorted, squirming a little beneath Lexa’s arm.</p><p>Lexa’s lips tilted up into a smile and she stood back up again, pulling the girl with her, so that she held her in her arms again. The higher height allowed Marie to now be able to reach up high towards the horse and she stretched out even further, so that she could reach out right between the horse’s ears and scratched it there.</p><p>Marie’s smile had turned almost blinding in its intensity and her grey eyes shone with joy.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa had brought the child back to her tent after they had finished their tour through TonDC. Marie had probably had gotten more than enough impressions at one go for such a small amount of time and although the child had still visibly been curious and intrigued, she had also gotten shier as well as the time had passed. She was sure that Marie’s highlight would remain the horses though.</p><p>They were waiting for lunch to be delivered to the commander’s tent right now, while Marie was fidgeting in place.</p><p>“Marie, calm down, alright?” Lexa asked the child in growing amusement. The child had appeared tired before, but it was obvious now that she was anything but tired. The girl had spent the last few minutes with telling her again in all detail about what they had seen together in TonDC.</p><p>“Can I pay with the other chidren?” Marie asked excitedly, remembering the group of the older children she had seen as well.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed together for a moment, but she inclined her head “I am sure that you will find someone to play with here” she reassured the child in a kind tone and just settled back into her seat as the girl enumerated again about what she had found so fascinating about the horses.</p><p>Marie’s narration was interrupted by the arrival of a handmaid who brought lunch into the commander’s tent and the girl immediately fell silent midsentence in the presence of the stranger.</p><p>Lexa’s green eyes turned softer when the girl immediately moved closer to herself and the child’s grey eyes watched the handmaid’s every move.</p><p>“<em>Mother”</em> Marie echoed the unfamiliar word once the handmaid had left again and looked up at the woman.</p><p>Lexa froze in her movements and met the child’s grey eyes in silence and her heart beat faster within her chest. The girl could surely not even know what she had just said and still, the simple word had ignited something within her.</p><p>“What does that mean?” Marie questioned a moment later with honest curiosity.</p><p>Lexa felt the slightest surge of disappointment flash through her mind and her voice sounded a little hollow as she breathed out “Mother”.</p><p>Marie’s eyes widened for a second, before her gaze connected with Lexa’s.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>During the lunch she shared with Marie, Lexa truly noticed the weird wristband the child was wearing. She had never seen such a thing and she found it weird that it did not move around the child’s thin wrist at all, as if it was glued to it in some way.</p><p>“Marie, what is that?” Lexa asked the girl in a curious tone, pointing down at the black wristband around the girl’s wrist.</p><p>Marie looked down at her wrist as well and a frown settled onto her features. She had tried a few times to get rid of the wristband and it still smarted slightly, but trying to remove it had only increased the pain she had felt and so, she had consequently just tried to ignore the thing altogether. She had heard Clarke explain that this thing somehow was sending a message to the rest of them on the Ark and they could see that they were still alive. Marie repeated what she could remember Clarke saying to the others.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed together as her eyes narrowed down at the alien wristband. She wanted to know how such a message could be working and she gently reached out, bringing the child’s wrist closer to her eyes, inspecting it closely. She just noticed now that there was a small red point of light on it and her confusion only grew. She knew that such a thing could only work with electricity, something which once had been common to humanity, but had been lost to her people after the old world had been destroyed.</p><p>Lexa had read almost all books she had gotten her hands on and they contained a lot of information which barely made sense to her anymore, too much knowledge had been lost forever to their people. It seemed logical now that the people who lived among the stars had retained this knowledge and maybe even improved it.</p><p>It made her worry though as to what would happen if these people came down to earth as well.</p><p>The Mountain Men still had access to technology, which made them almost impossible to attack for her own people. If these people now had even more knowledge of technology, the war which might break out between them, could very well be catastrophic for her people.</p><p>Marie winced noticeably when Lexa felt along the wristband and the commander immediately loosened her grip.</p><p>“It hurts?” Lexa asked worriedly, already wondering how the wristband might be removed from the child’s wrist. Why would people put something onto such a small child which was causing her pain?</p><p>Marie shrugged lightly, rubbing at the wristband in obvious discomfort. “Not when I don’t touch it" she answered, explaining that she had already tried to remove it unsuccessfully.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed together even more, they would need to find a way to remove it and the quicker, the better. She was not familiar enough with this kind of technology to know if the people among the stars might be listening to them right now, seeing them or even just be able to locate the child with it.</p><p>“We will find a way to remove it" Lexa promised in a decisive tone, she did also not wish the child to be in continuous discomfort. They would try to take care of it directly after lunch.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Unfortunately, Lexa was not able to take care of the wristband after lunch with Marie. There had been further movement detected around the Mountain and she needed to speak with the scouts and decide on how to proceed now. She highly doubted that the child would be interested in listening to such a boring topic, not even understanding what was spoken around her. So, she asked Anya if she would be willing to watch over the little girl in her stead, Marie had shown already that she had at least some affinity for the general.</p><p>Anya readily agreed to take care of Marie while Lexa was busy. She had already expected that it would come to this, Lexa was simply too busy as the commander to allow her to watch over the little girl all day long and it would not be different in Polis either.</p><p>Marie seemed a little put off at being handed over to the general just like that and pouted visibly when Lexa left her with Anya, looking behind the commander with a sad expression.</p><p>Anya tried to divert the child’s attention to the best of her abilities and what finally did the trick was promising to take the little girl to the stream nearby with the intention to teach her how to swim. The weather would not allow for long to use the stream for swimming, summer was already ending and the first leaves on the trees were beginning to turn from green to orange or red.</p><p>Marie followed Anya from the commander’s tent – she had heard a man call Lexa by her title, but she did not know what it actually meant – and she noticed that still most people were looking at her as if she was some kind of rare animal. She quickly caught up with the general, reaching out to take one of the woman’s hands again, she felt saver now with the contact. It unnerved her to no end that she could not understand what the people around her were saying.</p><p>“What does commader mean?” Marie asked, slightly out of breath at having to keep up with the woman’s extremely quick pace. She could see the forest around them and she wondered how far away the stream actually was.</p><p>A corner of Anya’s lips twitched in amusement at the child’s pronunciation and it somehow made the situation of Lexa encountering the little girl in the woods heart-warming. The child obviously had had no idea that she had stumbled over the most powerful woman on earth and had taken an immediate trust to her.</p><p>“Lexa is our commander” Anya began to explain, pronouncing the word “commander” extra slowly for the child to grasp the right way of pronunciation “that means that she is our leader”.</p><p>“Like the chancellor?” Marie checked; head tilted slightly to the side trying to make the connection.</p><p>Anya’s brows furrowed together for a moment and she guessed that the people who lived among the stars must have a different political system. She tried to question Marie on how much power their chancellor had, but all the girl had to offer was that there was some form of council installed as well, but the child was not able to explain what this actually meant in detail.</p><p>Marie followed Anya out of TonDC and into the woods, the woman seemed to walk extra slowly for her sake and her grey eyes still darted around them in interest, taking in all the details which she had missed during the first time. The people around them had still watched them, but Anya had stayed close enough to her.</p><p>She remembered now that Octavia had gotten hurt by some water monster and Marie abruptly stopped in her tracks still holding onto the woman’s hand.</p><p>Anya looked down at the girl with a slight frown, wondering why she had stopped and it confused her to detect fear in the little girl’s expression. “What is it, Marie?” she asked in a kind tone.</p><p>“There’s monster in the water” Marie told the woman with wide grey eyes, still not moving.</p><p>Anya’s frown deepened in confusion. She of course knew the locations where it was safe to enter the water and where it was warranted to be cautious.</p><p>“Octavia was bitten” Marie added in an important tone and nodded along for emphasis.</p><p>Amusement danced through Anya’s brown eyes; it did not surprise her at all that the youths who had been with Marie would have no idea about the dangers lurking around them. All of their scouts so far had seen how careless the invaders moved through the forest and they had killed the panther with one of the firearms only used by the Mountain Men.</p><p>“The water snakes cannot reach the place where I will teach you how to swim” Anya tried to reassure the little girl in a firm tone.</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side for a moment, grey eyes narrowing at the woman and she seemed to hold her gaze for a long silent moment as if she was seeking for the truth in the general’s brown eyes, before she nodded in mute agreement and began moving again, pulling Anya into the direction she suspected the stream to be.</p><p>Anya’s lips curled into a smile and she shook her head in mock amusement, before she lightly tugged the little girl into the right direction and not towards the Mountain “This way, little one” she commented in a gentle tone.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The way to the stream took much longer with Marie than Anya had estimated. The little girl was still too caught up with wanting to look around to get her moving quickly.</p><p>Once they did reach the stream, Marie’s grey eyes widened in absolute wonder.</p><p>Anya had chosen a place where a small water fall was visible ahead of them, but the water directly in front of them was mostly calm and clear. She let go of the girl’s hands and began to strip out of her clothes. The sun was still beating down strongly on them and Anya was sure that she would have reached TonDC later again with the little girl before sunset as well.</p><p>Marie simply took in their surroundings before she noticed that Anya was already undressed. She took in the dark tattoo climbing around the woman’s side and her upper arm, before she tried to undress as well. She fiddled around with the clasps of the coat, but she could not get it open.</p><p>“Anya” Marie spoke up with growing frustration. She looked up at the woman with an expectant expression, showing her the clasp which refused to cooperate with her.</p><p>Anya crouched down in front of the child, swatting her chubby hands away from the cloak gently and quickly opening it for her in silence. She remained in her position while the child continued to undress on her own, ready to help her again if assistance was needed.</p><p>She got back to her feet once the girl was naked as well and mutely offered a hand to Marie, leading her towards the shore with slow steps. Anya knew already that Marie had not seen so much water herself yet and the absolute wonder and astonishment on the child’s features, kept her patient with the child.</p><p>Marie hesitated directly in front of the water, right before her toes could make the first contact with it. She could see pretty far into the water and could not spot any monsters in it, but she was not sure yet that it was safe. “There’re really no monsters?” she checked, looking at the water with a doubtful expression.</p><p>“No, the water is safe” Anya repeated her assurance in a patient tone and simply waited a few silent moments until Marie seemed to have made up her mind. She could feel the child’s grip tightening around her own hand and the little girl seemed to take a deep breath, before she hesitantly took another small step.</p><p>“Ugh…” Marie exclaimed “Cold!” her voice had gotten higher and she took an instinctive step back, tugging at Anya’s hand.</p><p>Anya rolled her eyes at the girl’s overly dramatic antics. It was not even autumn yet, so the water was still a rather comfortable temperature. In a few weeks, it would be too cold to swim in the water, but now it still was fine. “It is not too cold” Anya argued while she lightly pulled at the child’s small hand, not allowing her to move from the water completely.</p><p>Marie pouted visibly and although she did try once more to get away from Anya, she ceased her resistance immediately once the general looked at her with a slight warning glare.</p><p>“You will get warm in the water” Anya tried to explain to the girl and took a step deeper into the water, simply pulling the child along.</p><p>Marie gave a little squealing noise of protest, but was pulled along nevertheless and Anya did not wait for more than a second, before she took another step into the water.</p><p>“It’s still too cold” Marie pointed out with a pout; the water reached almost up to her knees now.</p><p>“It gets better with movement” Anya retorted in a calm tone and just tugged the child deeper into the water. She was careful in her movements though, unwilling to cause the little girl to slip and fall down. She highly doubted that Marie would trust her, if she let her fall now.</p><p>Marie looked up at the woman with a slight grimace. Her mouth fell open in astonishment, when Anya suddenly let go of her hand and took a leap into the water. The woman’s movements looked smooth and elegant.</p><p>“Come in deeper” Anya called out to the little girl, who still looked rather doubtful at the water around herself.</p><p>Marie’s astonishment at watching the general swim, turned into slight horror, once the woman suddenly disappeared under the water and did not resurface immediately “Anya!” she called out in a high and alarmed tone, stepping deeper into the water unsurely.</p><p>Anya’s expression was apologetic once she returned to the child’s side and noticed the fear within her grey eyes “You can learn how to dive, once you know how to swim” she exclaimed.</p><p>Marie’s fear ebbed away once the woman was back at her side and she let herself be guided deep enough into the water to swim.</p><p>Learning to swim quickly turned into even more fun than Marie had assumed beforehand and she forgot about the cold water as well. Her movements still felt unnatural and slightly forced, but Anya who had kept a hand beneath her stomach for the last few minutes, quickly assured her that she was doing fine and well for her first attempt.</p><p>“It’s not cold any’ore” Marie exclaimed with a smile and added “Let go!” to Anya, wanting to try swimming completely on her own.</p><p>Anya watched the child’s attempts with a gentle expression. The girl was doing good so far and she guessed that her skill was already enough to keep her afloat without the threat of drowning.</p><p>The sky worried her though, dark clouds formed on the horizon and Anya knew how quickly the weather could change. She did not wish to be in the forest with the little girl, if there was a thunderstorm.</p><p>So, Anya reached out to the girl, leading her back into more shallow water.</p><p>“Don’t wanna go yet” Marie exclaimed with a distinct pout and she looked up at the general with her best impression of puppy dog eyes.</p><p>Although Anya felt hard pressed to oblige with the child’s obvious wish to spend more time in the water, her wish to return before the weather changed won out and she shook her head at the child with a strict expression. “We shall return at another time” she tried to appease the child.</p><p>Marie did not seem totally convinced of the woman’s promise, but she followed her mute order to get out of the water in silence. She had spotted a few smaller fish swimming around them and she internally wondered if there might be something in the water which would like to eat them if given the chance.</p><p>Anya quickly helped the little girl dry off and redress into her clothes, before she did the same. Her expression had turned worried by the time they were ready to head back towards the village. It had visibly gotten darker around them and the sky was hung now with almost angry dark clouds. She knew that they would never make it back to TonDC in time before the thunderstorm would start if they travelled with Marie’s speed.</p><p>So, Anya mutely hoisted the girl into her arms “We will have to get back quicker to TonDC now. A thunderstorm is brewing” she explained to the little girl and already got moving, carrying the little girl back towards TonDC and through the wood quickly.</p><p>Marie would not have said so audibly, but she even felt slightly exhausted now and was actually thankful that she did not have to walk the whole way back, it had appeared pretty long to her before.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>On the way back to TonDC, Anya had to tighten her arms around the girl’s body. Sometime along the way, the girl had drifted off into sleep and she had seen no reason to wake her up either.</p><p>Anya directly brought Marie to the commander’s tent. Lexa had been occupied with various maps which had been distributed on top of the large table.</p><p>“You are back early” Lexa assessed in a neutral tone, but her expression was clouded with worry for a moment when she noticed the sleeping child in the general’s arms. Had the girl gotten hurt?</p><p>Anya inclined her head and brought the little girl over to the bed, placing her sleeping form on top of the bunch of soft furs.</p><p>Marie let out a little grunt of displeasure, but just turned around once, curling together into a small ball and apparently drifting into deeper sleep in seconds.</p><p>“She is alright and she swam rather well too” Anya assured the young leader quickly “She is simply tired now and a thunderstorm seems to be brewing. I had not wanted to spend it in the forest with her”.</p><p> Lexa nodded in acceptance, grateful for the way her previous first had obviously taken to the little girl as well now, but she still stepped closer to the bed, bending down for a moment and gently feeling the girl’s forehead. Her skin felt normal to the touch and a slight smile tugged at the corners of her lips at the gentle caress. Lexa placed a warm fur over the girl’s body, tugging her in carefully, before she stepped back from the bed, pulling the curtain to the bed only slightly closed, so that she could still see the blonde head poking out beneath the furs.</p><p>After one last glance, Lexa returned to Anya and her attention returned to the maps for another moment, before she said “The invaders have tried moving back in the direction of the Mountain…”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All the while Lexa was discussing what their scouts had seen, the commander kept on shooting glances over to the bed, making sure that the little girl in it was sleeping peacefully.</p><p>Anya left the commander’s tent when dinner was served to the young leader, she still needed to look how her own current second Tris was doing. </p><p>Lexa walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge carefully. She had let the child sleep until now, but she wanted her to eat dinner. The little girl was definitely too thin and should not be missing meals.</p><p>“It is time for dinner, little one” Lexa said in a soft tone and she reached out to lightly give the little girl a shake.</p><p>Marie’s grey eyes blinked open a moment later and for a second she was visibly confused how she now came to be with Lexa in the tent. Her last memory had been of Anya and her being at the stream together.</p><p>Lexa leaned back again into an upright position and watched the little girl stretch beneath the soft furs with a little smile.</p><p>Marie rubbed at her eyes for a moment, before she sat up as well “You said dinner?” she echoed in obvious interest.</p><p>Lexa nodded in agreement, expression amused and kind, while she watched the girl get out from under the furs. She kept in her spot, while Marie crawled over the bed to the edge of the bed.</p><p>The girl was obviously to small to just get down from the bed like that and she kneeled on the edge for a moment, before she leaned her upper body down on the mattress.</p><p>Lexa watched the girl with a smile, keeping one hand hovering behind the little girl, ready to catch her if she needed to. Marie’s way of getting down the bed looked too comical and Lexa chuckled lightly under her breath. The little girl was groping her way down with one leg, obviously searching for the ground beneath the bed, while she was still kneeling on the other and her butt was sticking up, while her upped body was lying on the bed as well.</p><p>She let Marie test her way down the bed for a few moments, before she lightly placed her hands on the side of the child’s hips and pulled her from the bed, placing the child on her feet next to the bed.</p><p>“I would’ve gotten down my’elf” Marie pouted in a whiny tone and a slight accusation was within her grey eyes.</p><p>“Sure, you would have” Lexa agreed in an amused tone “The dinner will get cold though” she tried to divert the child’s attention.</p><p>Marie perked up at the mention of food and she grasped onto one of the commander’s hands “Come eat!” she requested the brunette energetically, tugging at her hand in the direction of the table.</p><p>Lexa let herself be pulled along to the table readily and she sat down on one of the chairs quickly. She pulled the second chair closer to herself, tapping it mutely to signal the child to sit down next to her.</p><p>Marie frowned at the woman, tilting her head to the side and her expression turned pleading while she mutely waited in front of Lexa.</p><p>Lexa gave in after a long moment of holding the girl’s gaze and her expression turned softer again as she pulled the girl into her lap and Marie immediately smiled happily. A part of her knew that it was not good that she was already obliging with the little girl’s moods like that. But another part of her could not find fault in letting the girl get her way in such harmless matters.</p><p>Marie leaned back against the commander’s chest and happily took up a piece of bread and what she had learned to be a few raspberries. She liked their sweet taste and they had not had any real fruits on the Ark, all in all the whole food here tasted much better than what she was used to. The bread was so much softer and fluffy as well.</p><p>They ate their dinner in companiable silence and after they were done, Lexa noticed how Marie kept on glancing at the maps on the other side of the table. “Have you seen maps before?” she asked the little girl.</p><p>Marie looked closer at the things on the table and she leaned forward.</p><p>Lexa pulled the maps closer to them, so that Marie could really see them.</p><p>The girl immediately reached out to the paper and took one of them into her hands, feeling the texture beneath her fingers and inspecting what had been drawn on them. She shook her head in the negative at the woman’s original question. She knew that Clarke had had a map with her, but it looked completely different, it was colourful and had a lot of names written on it as well.</p><p>Marie inspected the map for long silent moments. She did not recognize anything on it and she could not really read what was written on it either. They were obviously not just using a different language but a different way of writing as well.</p><p>“Can you understand the map?” Lexa asked, wanting to find out how much the child already knew. She had asked the girl already if she possessed any skills and the girl had told her that she could write and read in English and do some basic math.</p><p>Marie shook her head again and asked Lexa what was shown on it instead.</p><p>Lexa nodded at the child’s obvious interest and slowly began to explain the map to the girl, pointing out their current location to the child.</p><p>“TonDC” Marie echoed the name of the village carefully, looking at the woman for approval of her pronunciation.</p><p>Lexa inclined her head “Your people are trying to get to the Mountain” she said, pointing to where they knew the Mountain Men to live.</p><p>Marie nodded, remembering the others speaking about it and that they had been told by the chancellor to search for rations there, she told Lexa so quickly, relating to the leader what she had heard, feeling important for the way the woman seemed to be pleased with her that she was able to supply information.</p><p>Lexa carefully listened to the child’s narration. It seemed that the girl must have forgotten a few things and the information she could supply sounded a little illogical. What she did understand though was that the invaders had been told that they would find help in the Mountain. Her people would need to keep the invaders from the Mountain at all costs, just imagining that the Mountain could supply them with more of their firearms and by thus having people who could actually go outside and stay there and being armed with firearms made Lexa shudder internally. It would be catastrophic to say the least.</p><p>Lexa took up an empty piece of paper and quickly noted down what she had gotten from Marie’s narration and all the little bits of information the child had told her unwillingly thus far.</p><p>Marie watched the woman write in interest, noting immediately that she could not read this language at all. She made a little jump when a loud noise outside suddenly resonated, a noise she had not heard ever before.</p><p>“It is just a little bit of thunder” Lexa assured the girl, discarding her writing utensils for now, when the thunder continued and it sounded as if a real storm was starting. Anya had mentioned before that she had seen the weather shift. “Wait here” she ordered in a firm tone and stood up, placing the girl onto her feet next to the chair.</p><p>Marie watched the commander sweep from the tent with a raised brow, wondering what was going on, the woman had appeared hurried for some reason. She waited patiently for what appeared to her to be a long time and she could hear some rather loud shouting outside, but she could not understand the words and became bored with trying to listen to them.</p><p>She looked around the tent in curiosity, fidgeting around. Marie’s attention returned to the maps on the table. She took up the pen the young leader had written with and took a clean sheet of paper as well, beginning to draw on it.</p><p>Marie tried to draw the commander’s horse on it. She did not notice at all that her drawing quickly reached over the edges of the paper and began to blend together with the map.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa quickly met up with Anya and Indra in the centre of TonDC. Most of the scouts had returned to the village as well and all of them agreed that the weather had changed so quickly, that it was likely for a real storm to be brewing right now. They would evacuate the village for the night to be safe. The storms tended to get really strong at this time of the year.</p><p>The commander returned to her tent after a few minutes, having organized the evacuation of the village.</p><p>“Marie, we will…” she began in an urgent tone, but her words trailed off once she stood behind the little girl. Lexa recognized immediately that the child had been too enthusiastic in her drawing and her coloured far over the picture itself.</p><p>Marie looked up over her shoulder with an expectant smile on her features. Her mother had always told her that she possessed some talent for drawing and always complimented her on them. “You don’t like it?” she questioned unsurely as her smile faltered visibly.</p><p>Lexa shook her head slightly “We do not have time for that now. TonDC is being evacuated right now because of a storm and we will seek shelter from it in caves not far from here”.</p><p>“Storm?” Marie echoed in confusion, but it was replaced with fear when the thunder outside resonated even louder as if it was growing closer.</p><p>“We need to leave now” Lexa concluded with worry underlying her tone. She took up the little girl into her arms and felt the girl’s legs wrap around her hip and her little arms wound around her neck.</p><p>Gustus was already waiting for the commander outside of the tent and held the reins of the commander’s black horse.</p><p>Lexa handed Marie over to Gustus for a moment, needing her arms free to be able and get onto her horse. Marie visibly did not like being handed around like that, but she relaxed again when she was sitting in front of Lexa in the saddle and felt the commander’s arms pull her closer.</p><p>She steered her horse into the woods. Her mare was still relatively calm, trained too well to be spooked by the weather.</p><p>Marie enjoyed the feeling of the horse moving under them, but she was a little afraid because of the immense height. Her fingers clutched onto the horse’s mane when Lexa urged it to move faster and their surroundings began to move faster as well and Marie let out a surprised gasp.</p><p>Lexa loosened the child’s fingers gently, feeling her horse gave little jerks of starting to rear back. “You are hurting her” she explained in a firm tone and tightened her arms around the girl “You will not fall; I will not let you fall” she added in reassurance.</p><p>Marie nodded in acknowledgement, feeling a little warm feeling settling into her stomach at the commander’s words.</p><p>Every new bout of thunder made Marie jump a little and it did not take long, before rain began to pour down on them all of a sudden.</p><p>Lexa opened her coat and tried to envelope the little girl into it as well as possible, trying to keep her dry. But soon, the girl’s blonde locks were dripping wet and Lexa doubted that the child’s clothes would be much drier. She hurried her mare a little more along the way, being familiar enough with the forest around TonDC to be able to navigate them safely through the darkness.</p><p>Marie was shivering slightly by the time they made it to the caves. Lexa’s coat had only managed to keep her from being soaked completely, but she was still wet mostly and the wind had turned very cold as well.</p><p>Lexa dismounted quickly at the entrance of the cave, keeping one hand on the girl’s body to keep her on the horse, before she hoisted the little girl down as well. She gave her horse a pat of gratitude and the black mare immediately trotted away into the forest, seeking protection from the weather.</p><p>Marie watched the black mare vanish between the trees for a moment, holding onto the commander before the woman began moving again and carried her into the cave. She had never been inside of a cave yet and her grey eyes immediately moved from the forest and into the cave. Other people must have arrived before them and a fire was being lit close to the entrance of the tent. She had not expected the cave to be so big though.</p><p>Lexa carried Marie to the place which had already been prepared for the two of them. Her green eyes turned worried once she noticed that the child was still visibly shivering and her clothes had gotten much wetter than she had hoped. The girl’s body looked rather frail and Lexa hoped that she would not catch a sickness, she highly doubted that the child’s body would cope well with one.</p><p>Surprisingly Indra was thoughtful enough to supply Lexa with something to dry Marie off with and also had a shirt to spare for the child to sleep in for the night.</p><p>Marie visibly jawed once Lexa had helped her dry off as well as possible. She twisted the hem of the shirt around her fingers, the thing reached down over her knees and hung down over one of her shoulders like a weirdly tailored oversized dress.</p><p>She perked up for a moment, when she saw Anya enter the cave as well. Marie’s head tilted slightly to the side when she noticed a girl next to the general.</p><p>Lexa had watched the little girl and felt a little confused at the sadness washing over her roundish features. “The girl with Anya is her second Tris” she explained in a kind tone.</p><p>“Second?” Marie echoed with a raised brow. Did that mean that Anya had a daughter? Did Lexa have children too?</p><p>“I have been Anya’s second before” Lexa tried to explain, but the confusion only grew on the child’s face, so she added “Anya is training her to become a warrior. So, Anya is Tris’ first now and Tris is Anya’s second”.</p><p>Marie nodded along in understanding for a moment and her expression turned thoughtful, before hope flickered within her grey eyes “Can you be my first?”.</p><p>Lexa shook her head in the negative. After her last and only second had died in a battle, she had never contemplated taking another one. She was busy enough with the training of the nightblood novitiates and all her duties of being the commander anyway.</p><p>Marie’s hopeful expression visibly fell at the clear rejection.</p><p>“Maybe one day” Lexa tried to appease the girl quickly “You can lie down now”.</p><p>Marie nodded and made herself comfortable under the furs. She still felt slightly cold also she was not wet anymore.</p><p>Lexa left the girl there for a moment and conversed with Indra and Anya. It seemed that TonDC had been evacuated successfully and the storm had turned even harsher, so they had made the right decision.</p><p>Afterwards Lexa joined Marie on their furs and the little girl must have still been awake, as Lexa felt the child cuddle up to her after only a few seconds. The girl drifted off to sleep in no time at all.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>In the morning Lexa had great difficulties to rouse the child and her expression immediately turned worried. The girl’s skin was sallow and clammy, her grey eyes were visibly glassy and bloodshot. “Are you feeling well?” she inquired in a worried tone, reaching out and placing a head on the child’s forehead. Lexa’s eyes widened a fraction at the heat radiating off of the little girl and her skin had been sweaty.</p><p>Marie shook her head with a miserable expression and her voice was audibly scratchy as well “My head hurts…”.</p><p>Lexa nodded “Nyko will have something to make you feel better” she tried to reassure the girl. She had unfortunately not seen the healer with them in the cave. But she was fairly certain that others would have enough medical knowledge to help the girl if needed.</p><p>“She is sick?” Anya asked having just appeared behind the commander.</p><p>Marie only gave the general a very weak smile and began to cough loudly and a pained grimace contorted her features.</p><p>Anya crouched down in front of the little girl, helping her mutely to change from the oversized shirt back into her now dried clothes. “She needs some tea” she assessed. She had taken care of Lexa in the past when the brunette had been sick, but it was long ago and she had had the help of a healer. She knew how to prepare the tea, but not how to identify the herbs which were needed for the tea.</p><p>Lexa nodded with an annoyed expression; she had identified that already on her own. “We need to return to TonDC soon” she concluded in a sharp tone.</p><p>Lexa was called over by Indra for a moment. So, Anya picked the little girl up, it did not seem as if the child would be willing or able to walk even the short distance back out of the cave. The child hung almost limply within her arms and Anya felt her heart grow slightly heavy in worry.</p><p>Anya waited with Marie in her arms at the entrance of the cave. She had the dark foreboding that the little girl would have to fight during the next days. She had been healthy yesterday and her skin was burning with a high fever now.</p><p>Gustus had already been successful in locating the commander’s horse and his dark eyes narrowed at the little girl in Marie’s arms. “You are spoiling her” he assessed.</p><p>Anya shook her head “She is sick, Gustus”.</p><p>Lexa swept out of the cave behind them with fast strides “We leave to TonDC. Now” she proclaimed in an urgent tone, mounting up her mare in one fluid motion and she immediately extended her arms towards Anya to receive the little blonde girl. “Hold on, little one” she whispered into the child’s ears, before she gave her mare the signal to start ahead. She knew that children were in higher danger to die of simple sicknesses and it had not sounded as if the child’s life so far could have prepared her to fight it off well either.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lexa was worried on the way back to TonDC by the fact that Marie did not show any reactions at all. The girl seemed to have lost consciousness some time ago and she could feel the heat radiating off of the girl’s little body that much stronger.</p><p>She tightened her arms around the little girl’s limp body, keeping her close to her chest and she had once again enveloped the child within her coat in an attempt to keep her warm. The wind had ebbed away mostly, but Lexa was steering her horse through the woods around them as fast as possible.</p><p>The storm had unrooted quiet a few trees and Lexa already knew that TonDC would not have withstood the storm without damage as well. She only hoped that the healer’s hut would have remained unscathed, the child really needed help with her fever.</p><p>Lexa’s foreboding about the state of TonDC, most of the buildings had sustained some kind of visible damage. She could also see though that people had already begun to return to TonDC and they also already worked on clearing the damage.</p><p>She brought her horse to a halt directly in front of the healer’s hut which thankfully looked mostly unscathed.</p><p>Lexa leaned the unconscious child forward in the saddle and keeping her in place with one hand, she dismounted from her mare. She pulled the girl down from her black horse and into her arms, feeling her slight weight settle against her upper body as she adjusted her arms around Marie.</p><p>Lexa carried the little girl into the healer’s hut and felt a flash of annoyance surge through her mind at finding the building empty. It did not appear as if Nyko had returned yet either. She looked around the hut for a moment and although she did recognize a few herbs, she could not point out the right ones she would need to brew a tea to bring down the little girl’s fever.</p><p>She sighed deeply, tightening her arms around Marie’s little body for a moment, before Lexa shook her head at herself, standing here in the obviously empty hut would not bring any help to Marie. She decided that whoever would treat Marie for her sickness could do so within her own tent and left the healer’s hut again with fast strides.</p><p>Lexa quickly carried the girl through TonDC and she was not really that surprised to note that her own tent had obviously already been repaired for her. It had probably already been reconstructed before the people even thought about working on any other buildings.</p><p>Carefully Lexa placed the girl onto her bed and her green eyes worriedly noticed how strongly the child was shivering. She pulled a fur around the girl’s body, tucking her in gently. She brushed a sweat soaked blonde lock of hair from the girl’s glistening forehead.</p><p>Lexa quickly left her tent, searching for the handmaidens she knew who had travelled to TonDC for her. She knew that one of them was versed in basic healing techniques and could probably help Marie. She knew that a high fever could be as deadly as a severe bleeding wound. The girl’s body was weak and would need all the help it could get if they wanted for Marie to survive.</p><p>Lexa found the woman she was searching for in the communal hall. “Alira, I need you to come with me now” she called out loudly to the handmaid. The woman had already worked at the tower in Polis during her times as a nightblood novitiate there and she trusted her inexplicitly, so she often let her travel with her.</p><p>Alira immediately nodded, abandoning what she had been doing before at once and following the commander mutely towards the leader’s tent.</p><p>“Marie has fallen ill” Lexa explained on the way in an urgent tone.</p><p>Alira nodded in acknowledgement. She had heard about the little girl from the invaders of course, but she had not seen her with her own eyes yet. She had also been told that the child would remain with the commander for now. “What kind of sickness?” she asked in a calm tone.</p><p>“She is running a high fever” Lexa answered “She has gotten wet during the storm last night and must have developed a sickness because of that”.</p><p>Alira nodded again, going through what she would need to help the little girl internally.</p><p>“Nyko’s stocks should contain everything you might need” Lexa added after a moment of silence.</p><p>“I will gather what I will need” Alira exclaimed, detouring from the way to the commander’s tent.</p><p>Lexa returned to her tent alone, checking on the little girl immediately and she felt her heart clench painfully at what she found.</p><p>Marie must have woken up alone while she had been away and the girl’s face was blotched and tears had run down her round cheeks. She must have climbed down the bed somehow and kept the fur wrapped around her body and was now standing in the middle of the tent and looking at the commander with glassy grey eyes which were still swimming in tears.</p><p>“You… back…” the little girl brought out between a few sobs after a few moments.</p><p>Lexa stepped close to Marie and forced a smile onto her features “Let us get you back into the bed, little one, you are sick and you need to rest” she tried to reason with the girl. She pulled the girl into her arms and brought her back onto the bed, sitting down on it with Marie in her lap, still wrapped inside the fur.</p><p>“I’m cold…” Marie exclaimed in a whiny tone and she pulled at the fur to wrap it tighter around herself.</p><p>“I know” Lexa acknowledged, wrapping her arms around the little girl “Alira is collecting something to help you. You will feel better in no time”.</p><p>Marie only gave a little whiny tone as response and buried herself more firmly against the commander’s chest, sobbing lowly under her breath.</p><p>“Sshh…” Lexa tried to sooth the little girl gently, rocking her body back and forth slightly.</p><p>She looked up a moment later when someone entered her tent and her brows furrowed when she noticed that it was not Alira but Anya who had entered. The general appeared worried and Lexa feared that something with the invaders had occurred.</p><p>“How bad is it?” Anya questioned directly instead, belying Lexa’s internal worry.</p><p>The commander was a little startled to see that her previous first obviously had begun to care for the blonde little girl as well. Internally although she was surprised, she was also glad. If Anya cared for Marie too, she could probably convince the general to return to Polis with her as well. She would need help in taking care of Marie on a daily basis and she would feel much better if Marie could stay with someone, she truly trusted if she could not watch over her in person. The child was still rather young to start training as a warrior, but they could soon begin with a very light training regime with her which would mostly just make the girl fitter.</p><p>“Her fever is high” Lexa answered honestly, letting her own worry shine through in her tone and her expression.</p><p>“She will get through it” Anya assured the young leader in a decisive tone, although both of them were aware that neither of them could be sure of it.</p><p>Alira entered the commander’s tent just a moment later, carrying a large basket filled with various herbs.</p><p>Lexa manoeuvred the child to sit beside her on the bed, although Marie’s rather loud protesting whine clearly stated what the little girl thought about it. She held onto one of the girl’s hands while Alira began to take a look at Marie.</p><p>The handmaid seemed rather worried to note how rattling the child’s breathing already sounded. Together with her high fever the child’s state could only be described as life-threatening.</p><p>Alira prepared a tea for the girl and told Lexa to remove the fur from Marie’s form for now. The child needed to be dressed into some lose-fitting comfortable clothes. She also asked Anya to tell a few maids to bring in water. If the child’s fever would not sink soon, they would need to cool her down with cold baths. For now, she would try cold compresses and the tea.</p><p>Lexa continued to speak in a soft tone to Marie, keeping the girl as compliant to Alira’s handlings as possible.</p><p>Anya did not return immediately after alerting a few handmaids to bring water to the commander’s tent. The general helped out around TonDC and made sure that Tris was occupied as well.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The next hour quickly showed how severe Marie’s sickness was. The girl’s fever was not broken by the tea Alira had made for her. Before she had coughed just a few times, but her coughing had turned into fits wracking her whole body. The child was barely conscious and seemed delirious from her fever.</p><p>Lexa could not understand anything from the few words the girl babbled under her high fever. But she remained by her side as long as she could, holding one of her hands, wiping her feverish forehead with a wet cloth and making the child take a few sips of tea every few minutes.</p><p>Once the commander was needed to speak with the scouts, who had investigated where the last thing had fallen from the sky, Anya took up her place by the child’s side.</p><p>“Lexa…” Marie breathed out with obvious difficulties, coughing again and struggling to sit up.</p><p>“Hello, little one” Anya tried to get the girl’s attention and she gave the girl an encouraging smile.</p><p>“Anya?” Marie questioned in an obviously confused tone; grey glassy eyes blinked a few times at the woman before recognition flashed through them finally. “Where’s Lexa?” she asked in a whiny tone.</p><p>“Lexa will return soon” Anya assured the little girl as she dabbed at her forehead with the wet cloth “Are you hungry?” she questioned, trying to divert the little girl for now.</p><p>Marie shook her head in the negative with a slight grimace on her features “Is Tris your daughter?” she asked, remembering the blonde older girl from the cave.</p><p>Anya frowned down at the little girl and immediately shook her head “No, we are not connected by blood. I train Tris to become a strong warrior”.</p><p>“Can I become one?” Marie questioned after another silent moment although she was interrupted by a few coughs.</p><p>The corners of Anya’s lips tilted up into a smile “You will surely become a strong warrior one day” she assured the girl in a soft tone. The child was way too young to say if she possessed any qualities a warrior needed to possess, but it was good that she seemed curious of her surroundings like that and obviously wished to stay with them.</p><p>Marie minutely smiled at the prospect, before she groaned in obvious pain “I’m cold…” she complained in a whiny tone.</p><p>“I know, Marie” Anya acknowledged, but she kept the child from taking up even more furs “Has Lexa told you that she had been my second before?” she asked the little girl and when Marie gave a weak nod, she launched into a narration of her time with Lexa, when the brunette leader had still been a little girl herself.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Three days passed during which Lexa, Anya and Alira took care of Marie while she passed in and out of consciousness and on the fourth day Marie’s fever finally broke.</p><p>Lexa had already worried constantly that the child would not make it. She had refused for Marie to be moved from her tent. They had needed to give the girl several cold baths, much to the little girl’s displeasure. So, she had barely caught more than an hour or two sleep per night, preferring to watch the little girl sleep instead. She had nodded off with one hand lying on the girl’s stomach, feeling it move up and down beneath her hand assured her of the child’s continued survival.</p><p>Marie woke on the fourth morning to feel Lexa’s hand still rest on her tummy. The commander was sitting next to the bed, upper body leaned forward and her head resting lightly on the edge of the bed. Marie took a few moments to watch the woman. In sleep and without the dark colour around her eyes, the woman looked much younger. But she began to stretch beneath the furs, when she noticed that she needed to pee urgently.</p><p>“Lexa…” she exclaimed with a scratchy tone, wiggling under the furs.</p><p>Lexa immediately woke up and her green eyes widened a little at seeing the child so awake. “How are you feeling, little one?” she questioned the girl. She sat up and stretched herself for a moment, feeling her spine give a few uncomfortable cracks at the weird position she had spent the night in.</p><p>“Need to pee” Marie said in an urgent tone and she sat up quickly. “Ugh...” she breathed out at the blotches appearing within her vision.</p><p>Lexa nodded immediately and stood up. She pulled the girl into her arms and carried her oer to the part of the tent which functioned as the bathroom. She held the girl upright while she peed, it was obvious that the child was weak on her legs.</p><p>She was happy to note though that the girl’s temperature was normal again.</p><p>“I am hungry” Marie said once Lexa carried her back towards the bed.</p><p>“You will get something to eat immediately” Lexa acknowledged with a pleased expression. They had not managed to get the girl to ingest anything more than a little bit of broth, so it was no wonder that her stomach was mostly empty.</p><p>As if summoned by her thoughts, Alira entered the commander’s tent a moment later, carrying breakfast for the leader. The handmaid smiled honestly as seeing the blonde girl awake.</p><p>Lexa sat down on the bed with Marie and Alira placed tray on the bed beside them, asking if they would anything else. The commander denied it with a thankful nod, sending the woman off to get some more sleep. Alira had helped her a lot during the last days with Marie.</p><p>Marie immediately reached out, grabbing a few raspberries and a piece of the soft bread. “Are you fighting dragons?” she asked out of the blue. She had seen the commander wear a sword too and she remembered that now, she had not remembered to ask Anya up to now.</p><p>Lexa raised her brows in confusion “Dragons?” she echoed with a frown. She darkly remembered having read about creatures called dragons in some old book from the old world.</p><p>“Yeah, dragons” Marie repeated in an important tone “Like in the fairy tales where the prince fights with a sword against the dragon” she explained.</p><p>Lexa’s lips curved into an amused smile, finally making the connection. “No, Marie” she denied “We do not fight dragons. There are no dragons” she added after a moment.</p><p>Marie looked honestly disappointed by the commander’s answer “What do you need a sword for then?” she wondered in what appeared to be a mixture of honest confusion and curiosity.  </p><p>Lexa internally tried to find a way to describe their warfare to the little girl. It was obvious just how naïve and innocent the young child still was and for some unknown reason she did not want to destroy that just yet. “What kind of weapons do your guards use?” she questioned the girl after a long moment of silence; Marie had continued to fixate her with an inquiring gaze patiently obviously waiting for an answer.</p><p>Marie’s head tilted to the side slightly in deep concentration and she tried to describe the shock batons to the commander before she remembered the guns as well, although she had never seen one been used before.</p><p>Lexa nodded along the girl’s words carefully “We do not have the weapons you describe, but our people use swords, spears and bows and such”.</p><p>Marie listened to the commander’s words with wide grey eyes “But for what?” she finally questioned after a mute moment of contemplation.</p><p>Lexa did not have to find an answer just yet, as the child broke out into another long coughing fit and she immediately busied herself with preparing a new tea for Marie to hopefully ease her definitely sore throat.</p><p>Internally, Lexa’s feelings were turmoiled, she knew that she would need to find a way to describe to the child just how brutal the world was into which she and her people had fallen. It was obvious that Marie had not caught up with that simple fact yet. No child of their own at Marie’s age would even thing of questioning the need for weapons, most would probably already have held one at this stage and maybe also having seen someone die. But all of this was completely new to Marie and she wanted to find a way to gently introduce the child to their reality. It would be important that Marie recognized it as well if they wanted her to survive.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lexa quickly noticed that although the girl’s fever had broken, she was anything but healthy. Marie was weak physically even more so than before.  </p><p>Marie’s breathing was still laboured, she coughed a lot, had a constantly stuffed nose and the child continued to sleep a lot during the day. Lexa internally feared that the child may relapse at any moment, she knew how tricky diseases could be. So, she still spent as much time with the child as possible and if she could not keep an eye on the little girl herself, she asked Anya or Alira to take over. Surprisingly, the general seemed to share her worry.</p><p>What had transpired between their people and the invaders worried the commander greatly. After another metal thing had fallen from the sky a few nights ago, the invaders had ignited some form of weird bombs which had destroyed one of their smaller villages close to TonDC. None of the inhabitants had survived the attack and her people were already loudly calling for the blood of the invaders. But Lexa was hesitant to attack them now. The invaders had shown by the deadly surprise attack on the small village that they would to well not to underestimate them.</p><p>Lexa did not think that whatever would happen between their own people and the people from the sky would have any influence on Marie, the child was undoubtedly too young to pose any danger to them and the people from TonDC had reacted really well to the child remaining in her presence. Some people had even offered her more clothes which should fit the little girl and she had been supplied with a few toys to occupy the girl’s time with once she was feeling better again. A few people had even relayed their wishes for Marie’s recovery.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa’s fear that Marie might relapse was unfortunately proven correct only a few hours later.</p><p>The commander had spend some quiet time with the girl after their shared breakfast. She had settled back into bed with Marie, letting the child cuddle up to her, wrapped tightly into a warming fur, and had told the girl a story of the beginnings of her training with Anya.</p><p>Marie had listened to Lexa’s story with her full attention, hearing how the woman had learned at her own age how to hold a sword and for what it would be used. She had some difficulties to imagine it, but Lexa described the training really well and Marie hoped that she would be allowed to get training like that as well. She wanted to become a good warrior, just like Lexa and Anya obviously were.</p><p>“I wanna be a warrior too, <em>mother</em>” Marie breathed out in a dreamy tone, after Lexa’s narration had trailed off. She cuddled a little closer to the woman, feeling sleep pull at her consciousness. Her throat still ached horribly and her whole body pained somehow.</p><p>Lexa felt her heart beat a little quicker at the child’s almost off-hand usage of the term “mother" in her own language. She smiled down gently at the little girl and it was almost startling how easily she could imagine the little girl grow up next to her and under her tutelage, growing to be one of the fiercest warriors to be ever known among their people. She felt a warm feeling settle in the pit of her stomach at the thought. Her people undoubtedly respected and at times even adored her as a leader, but this form of pure and almost instinctual love from a child was different on so many levels. The girl did not see her as the glorified and powerful leader, but Marie saw the woman behind the mask of the commander and had obviously found her worthy of her trust.</p><p>Lexa internally debated on how to react to the girl’s words for a few moments and when she had finally made up her mind and settled onto something to say, she noticed that the little girl had dozed off inside their embrace. She looked down at the girl with a caring expression, brushing a strand of blonde hair from her forehead. A frown had settled onto her features at finding the child’s temperature elated again.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath and she moved out from under the girl, placing her back onto the bed in what she hoped to be a comfortable position.</p><p>She had seen Alira prepare the tea for Marie often enough now, to be able to do it without help now.</p><p>Lexa prepared the tea in silence, listening to the child’s breathing echo through the tent. Thankfully, it did not sound as rattling and laboured as before.</p><p>She almost regretted to have to wake the girl a few moments later by gently shaking her shoulders to urge her to drink at least some sips of the fresh tea. Lexa also prepared some cold compresses for Marie to help and bring down her temperature quicker. Marie did not appear to be truly awake but let herself be handled rather well.</p><p>Afterwards Lexa settled down at the table looking over some reports, but she continued to keep an eye on the little girl occasionally.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya came to the commander’s tent around midday, finding Lexa at the table still emerged in the reports and Marie in the bed. The young leader was so concentrated that she had not even heard her entrance at all.</p><p>The general walked over to the bed and her brows furrowed in worry. Marie’s hair was plastered to her face in sweaty strands and the girl’s breathing seemed off. “Lexa" she exclaimed loudly, pulling the commander out of her focus finally.</p><p>Lexa looked up with a startled expression which was quickly replaced with a flash of deep guilt once she joined Anya at the little girl’s bedside. “Has Nyko returned yet?” she questioned in a tone underlined with hope.</p><p>Anya shook her head “Not to my knowledge".</p><p>Lexa sighed, she knew that Alira had already done everything she knew to do in their attempt to help Marie, but she was fairly certain that the experienced healer would possess a deeper knowledge and might have something else to cure the girl of her sickness.</p><p>“Lincoln has returned though” the general related the original reason for having sought out the commander in the first place.</p><p>Lexa raised a brow in mute question at the older woman, she sensed already that Anya had more to say to that matter. She bent forward and felt the girl’s temperature, finding it much too high again.</p><p>“He has been held hostage by these invaders during the last days” Anya narrated what she had heard from the man before he had fallen unconscious. She had left Alira with him to take care of his severest wounds. Some of the man’s wounds had clearly stemmed from torture and she already knew how well their people would react to this new information. The invaders had not only burnt down a whole village but kept one of their own as a hostage, probably for investigation purposes. Anya highly doubted that Lincoln would have offered any information to the invaders though, most of them had received at least some training to withstand torture.</p><p>Lexa’s nostrils flared in obvious anger and her green eyes flashed darkly. The invaders were beginning to force her hand with their actions. Some of her generals had bugged her continuously for the last days that they wished to attack the invaders and erase them before they could make another surprise attack.  </p><p>Lexa removed the compresses from Marie’s legs and submerged them back into the bucket with water next to the bed, squeezing out most of the water of the material with an angered grimace.</p><p>Anya smirked slightly when she heard the unmistakable noise of the cloths ripping beneath the force of Lexa’s hands “Any harder and you will have torn them apart” she remarked lightly.</p><p>Lexa’s green eyes moved from the compresses to her former mentor, blazing for a second in fuelled anger, before she exhaled forcefully and let go of most of the anger, instead concentrating back on Marie. She placed the wet compresses back onto the girl’s legs and pulled the fur lightly back over the girl’s body.</p><p>“The fever should have already spread among the invaders” Anya said, watching the young leader take care of the young girl. They had sent one of the invaders back into their own camp after having infected him with a disease which would have spread quickly among the invaders. Their scouts had seen that the boy had been accepted back by his people and enough time had passed by now. The boy had not offered much information at all to them. He had spoken freely after a little bit of torture, but he did not seem to possess much valuable information. Anya had interrogated him personally, but Marie had already told them most of the details the boy had shared. She did not understand why a boy so close to manhood could still be so ignorant about the life around him.</p><p>Lexa inclined her head “The army can march in two days” she agreed in a clipped tone. She would not let the invaders be for longer, she could not risk it. She had let the order be relayed through all the clans that all invaders were to be brought to her alive for interrogation. She had also asked for back up to travel to TonDC and the first troops should arrive soon in TonDC. She did not wish to underestimate the invaders and bringing them down with a too large force was safer than risking anything.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The next time Marie opened her eyes, her whole body felt too hot and cold all at once and she needed a moment until she noticed that she was submerged within cold water. Instinctively, she tried to get out of the water, feeling her teeth rattle slightly.</p><p>Anya held onto the girl’s shoulders tightly as soon as the child began to fight against them, wanting to get out of the water.</p><p>“It’s cold…cold” Marie whined in a high tone and her eyes finally connected with Anya’s brown ones, pleading with them mutely.</p><p>“We know, little one” Lexa tried to sooth the girl in a gentle tone “Your fever has risen again and it needs to be brought down” she tried to explain why they needed to do this to the little girl now, although she internally felt more than a little torn at the girl’s pleading.</p><p>After a few more minutes Lexa felt that Marie’s temperature seemed to have fallen enough to take her out of the water again. She immediately enveloped the child into a warm fur, drying the little girl quickly.</p><p>Anya helped her former second with dressing the blonde child into a set of dry clothing, before Lexa carefully untangled the child’s hairs and braided them into a simple braid.</p><p>Marie’s grey eyes switched between both of them tiredly “Tell me ano’er story” she asked, lips pulled into a pout and grey eyes pleading.</p><p>“What do you want to hear about?” Any asked in a kind tone, although she already had a premonition about what the girl would want to hear.</p><p>“How you met Lexa” Marie retorted, stretching her arms towards Anya.</p><p>The general easily picked the girl up and carried her back over to the bed, settling down on it with the girl. She looked down at the little girl with an open and kind expression, feeling her grey eyes connect expectantly with her own. “I have met Lexa…” Anya began to enumerate patiently, although she had already told the girl this story a few times by now. For some reason unknown to her, Marie continued to ask to hear this story again and again.</p><p>It did not take long until Anya felt Marie doze off leaned against her side. She continued to let one hand lightly caress the girl’s back to keep her calm. Her eyes trailed from Marie over to Lexa and she finally noticed just how exhausted the young leader appeared to be, dark shadows were forming under Lexa’s green eyes and her whole posture began to betray her exhaustion.</p><p>“Lexa” Anya addressed the brunette in a careful tone. She was aware of the fact just how strained their relationship had been since Costia’s death. She was relatively certain that they would not have met at all again if not for the invaders falling into Trikru lands.</p><p>Lexa rubbed at her temples, trying to ease the bugging headache for a moment, before she finally looked over to the bed as well. Her expression turned gentle and caring at the sight of Marie sleeping peacefully within the general’s arms. “What?” she finally asked into the heavy silence of the tent.</p><p>“You need to sleep” Anya assessed in a neutral tone. She was all too aware of the fact that Lexa was just a normal human being as well and she needed to take care of herself too or she would not be able to fulfil the role of their powerful leader for long.</p><p>“I am fine” Lexa waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.</p><p>Anya raised a brow at the younger woman, staring her down in silence for a moment.</p><p>Lexa huffed out a frustrated bout of air “Fine” she agreed. She stepped closer to the bed and mutely motioned Anya to pass her down some of the furs. She had not found any real sleep during the last nights while she had shared it with Marie, the little girl had been plagued with nightmares due to her high fever. So, Lexa had been woken several times a night or she had directly stayed beside the bed in a chair to just make sure that the girl continued to breathe.</p><p>She laid down the furs next to the bed and settled herself onto them a moment later, not bothering to take off more than her coat for now. It barely took Lexa more than a few breaths to fall into an exhausted sleep.</p><p>Anya watched the brunette drift off from the bed, keeping the little girl close to herself. She would stay within the commander’s tent to make sure that the child was alright and allow Lexa to continue to sleep.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Thankfully, Marie was relatively easy to handle, so that Anya did not have any real difficulties.</p><p>The child woke up some time later, feeling her stomach give a little rumble of hunger. “Hungry” Marie proclaimed in a much chirpier tone just as she had woken up.</p><p>Anya’s lips tilted upwards into a smile “We can certainly do something against that”. She knew that returning hunger was always a good sign in a sickness. There was still some leftovers from breakfast on the table, so Anya just brought Marie over to the table.</p><p>On their way Anya noticed how Lexa shortly woke up and their eyes connected for a short moment, before Lexa must have realized that she could handle situation on her own, turned back around and got back to sleep.</p><p>Anya sat down with Marie at the table. She had seen Lexa keeping the girl in her lap during their shared dinner, so she did not even attempt to place the girl onto a chair of her own and allowed her to sit in her lap as well.</p><p>Marie seemed happy enough to be presented with more bread, a bit of cheese and she seemed actually thrilled to note that there still were a few raspberries left from breakfast too.</p><p>“Can you train me too?” the girl asked after she had eaten a bit and looked up hopefully at the general. She was fascinated with the idea of being trained as a warrior too and how Anya had trained Lexa in the past.</p><p>Anya raised a brow at the blonde child “You want to become a warrior?” she questioned in a serious tone.</p><p>Marie nodded with an enthusiastic expression on her roundish features, which was destroyed a little as she began to cough strongly for a few moments.</p><p>Anya had to chuckle slightly under her breath, trying hard to maintain her hard façade, when the girl immediately began to nod again after she had finally stopped coughing. “Do you know what being a warrior means?” she asked seriously.</p><p>Marie stopped her nodding for a moment, tilting her head to the side in obvious deep thought, before she nodded again “Yeah, train with sword” she retorted in an important tone.</p><p>Anya smiled gently at the girl “You can certainly train with a sword at one point. But definitely not too soon, you are too young now” she explained, brown eyes kind and honest.</p><p>“But Lexa said she used sword when she was old as me now” Marie retorted with a slight frown and her lips pulled into the hint of a pout.</p><p>Anya shook her head with a smile “You mean that Lexa used a sword when she was as old as you are now and yes, that is basically correct, but Lexa is special…”.</p><p>Anya could not finish her sentence, before the child’s enthusiastic expression visibly fell.</p><p>“’m special too…” Marie breathed out, grey eyes tearing up a little.</p><p>Anya tightened her arms around the little girl “Of course, you are, little one” she tried to reassure the girl in a firm tone. She doubted that trying to explain to Marie that nightbloods were usually trained earlier would do any good now and the girl was already on the verge of tears. She suspected that Marie’s continued disease had a hand in her mood too, so she just tried to sooth the girl in a soft tone and gently rocked her back and forth until she felt the child doze off again some time later.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Lexa woke up the next time, she found Anya and Marie sitting together at a table in the middle of the tent. The little girl was sitting in the general’s lap and her whole attention was focused on Anya’s hands.</p><p>One of the villagers from TonDC had sent a specific kind of doll for their new guest into the commander’s tent. Lexa recognized the special kind of doll immediately as she had once been given something similar like that in her own youth. The body of the doll was made up by wood and straw and the doll had been given long black hair which could now be braided for practise. It was relatively small and easy to carry around and the children who used them usually had them somewhere close for at least a few months.</p><p>Anya was now obviously in the process of explaining to the child how a very simple basic braid was done. Marie’s grey eyes were solely focused on the general’s hands watching her every move carefully in utter concentration.</p><p>Anya braided the doll’s hair into one single thick braid, keeping her movements slow and what she hoped to be easy to follow for Marie. Once she had completed the braid, she opened it again, combing the hair out with her fingers for a moment, before she handed the doll back over to Marie “Now it is your turn” she proclaimed in a kind tone and with an encouraging expression on her features. She leaned back in the chair as well to allow Marie some more room for movements.</p><p>Marie looked at the doll closely for a moment, grey eyes narrowing as if she was assessing something, before she tightened her grasp around the doll.</p><p>Lexa continued to watch in silence how Marie tilted her head slightly to the side. The tip of the child’s tongue stuck out of her little mouth and her expression was one of deep concentration while she tried to repeat what Anya had shown her before.</p><p>It was obvious quickly though that Marie was sadly having little success and had not understand the technique yet. A frown settled on the child’s roundish features, clearly disappointed with her result. “It’s not looking right!” Marie complained loudly, holding the doll as high as she could for Anya to inspect it.</p><p>Lexa contained a slight chuckle at the child’s antics. It was obvious how unsatisfied she was and also how eager she was to do better. Marie was holding the doll basically right into Anya’s face and the general seemed a little startled by the girl for a second.</p><p>Anya rolled her eyes slightly at Marie although the child could not see that from her position. Gently, Anya pushed the doll at least a little down from her face. “You have not done what I have showed to you, that is why it is not correct now” the general retorted in a calm tone, still absolutely patient with the young child.</p><p>“But I did!” Marie shot back loudly, voice rising in volume and her lips pulled into a pout as she crossed her arms over her chest petulantly.</p><p>Lexa could see her former mentor’s lips thinning at the child talking back to her like that and she decided that it was time to intervene and stand up now, before Anya could snap at the girl. She knew after all how quickly the general’s patience tended to snap. She stood up in one fluid motion, only stopping for a short moment to stretch her limps out.</p><p>Marie’s expression immediately brightened up at seeing the commander awake and she seemed to have forgotten the situation before altogether as she definitely proudly proclaimed “Anya’s teaching me to b’aid” and she now held the doll into Lexa’s direction.</p><p>“I can see that” Lexa assessed in a gentle tone and gave the girl a slight smile.</p><p>“Wanna make your hair” Marie added after a second of silence and her expression had turned hopeful and enthusiastic by now.</p><p>Lexa frowned slightly and echoed “my hair?” in a questioning tone and a raised brow. Marie’s first attempt at braiding the doll’s hair had very obviously been anything but a success and she was absolutely certain that the little girl would only make a tangled mess out of her own brown locks if she allowed her to attempt to braid them. She would hate to have to call back Alira to undo all the damage the girl would surely produce, but she also did not feel too well with the thought of declining the girl’s plea.</p><p>Marie’s expression switched to one of impatience only a few seconds later. Anya had explained to her, while Lexa had still been asleep and they had looked through all the toys the villagers had sent to the commander’s tent for her, – something Marie still found hard to wrap her mind around -  that their own children all learned to braid with a doll like this one. They were only allowed to do the hair of other family members and themselves, once they had perfected the technique. Marie wished to be able to replicate the hairstyle Lexa wore as it of course was the most beautiful in her mind, although she did like Anya’s hair too. She thought that she could maybe make it into her own hair at one point, if she knew how to do so.</p><p>Marie held the doll a little higher towards Lexa and repeated “your hair” in a demanding tone, grey eyes focused on the commander.</p><p>Lexa needed another moment to make the mental connection and her brows furrowed, but it did not matter as Anya beat her to an answer.</p><p>“You need to be able to braid different types of braids before you can attempt such a complex hairstyle as Lexa’s” the general explained in a kind tone. A slight smirk settled onto her features before she added “And no doll will ever have such a wild mane as what Lexa calls her hair”. Lexa had had great difficulties in the past with trying to tame her brown locks and Anya to criticise her a few times, when the brunette’s locks had once again fallen out of her braids during training and hindered her clear view.</p><p>Lexa rolled her eyes at the general’s attempt at a humorous jab and the little girl’s expression clearly showed that she had not understood the exchange either and her grey eyes switched between both women in slight confusion.</p><p>“Let me show you again how it is done properly” Lexa offered kindly, taking the doll back over from Marie’s hands before she pulled another chair close, so that Marie could see her easily from her place on Anya’s lap.</p><p>The little girl immediately was back into the task with her full attention and wiggled around slightly in Anya’s lap.</p><p>The general quickly wound her arms around the little girl’s midriff, before she could fall down from the chair. Anya watched in internal amusement how Marie to follow and mimic Lexa’s movements with her bare hands held up in front of her chest.</p><p>Lexa braided and reopened the doll’s hair three times in total, all the while loudly and slowly describing in detail what she was doing, before she finally handed the doll back over to the now clearly impatient little girl.</p><p>Marie immediately grasped onto the doll, grey eyes shining with the incentive to show that she could do it as well. This time she tried to copy the technique she had seen much slower, so that Lexa was able to interrupt and correct her once she grasped onto the wrong strand or tried to pull them into the wrong direction.</p><p>Marie needed a few moments of Lexa correcting her patiently over and over until she finally understood the technique and was able to complete her very first braid. The little girl smiled brightly in clear pride at Lexa and Anya, obviously waiting for their assessment and her smile brightened just the slightest bit further once both of them nodded to her in acknowledgement. “Can I make your hair now?” she switched her gaze back to Lexa with a thoughtful expression.</p><p>Lexa shook her head with a slight chuckle under her breath “Anya is correct, you need to know many more techniques for that hairstyle.”</p><p>Marie appeared slightly disheartened for a moment, before she said “But I can learn them, right?”.</p><p>“Of course,” Lexa immediately answered “with time” she added a moment later.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie’s temperature thankfully did not rise again and her other symptoms were relatively well kept under control by the tea, so that the little girl was allowed out of bed again.</p><p>“Go and see ho’ses” she proclaimed at once in an enthusiastic tone. Alira had agreed that Marie’s health was stable enough and the little girl had continued to nag them about wanting to go outside again. Although the child had been relatively easy to handle and was diverted from wanting to move again easily enough, Marie still asked again at every opportunity.</p><p>Anya was training Tris at the moment and Lexa knew that she had some time now. The first generals from neighbouring villages had arrived in TonDC and she would need to hold a meeting with them soon, but that could as well wait for a few hours.</p><p>So, Lexa readily agreed to Marie’s wish and took one of the little girl’s hands again as she led her out of the tent.</p><p>Gustus was standing guard just at the entrance and fell into step behind them in silence.</p><p>Marie’s smile froze a little when she noticed that Lexa seemed somewhat different now. The woman’s body appeared tense and her previously open and kind expression had turned colder and distant somehow and she could not figure out why that was the case. Had she done something to anger her? She did not want Lexa to go away like her parents had before. She believed Lexa and Anya that her parents had not left her by their own choice, but they were still gone and would not return, she did not wish to lose Lexa and Anya now as well.</p><p> The warriors who had not seen Marie before of course reacted the strongest to the child’s presence and furious whisperings broke out all around them.</p><p>Marie stiffened as well in reaction and looked up at Lexa for guidance on what to do now, but the woman was not paying her any mind, but was staring at a man standing right opposite of both them who was glaring strongly at the commander.</p><p>“You will all have undoubtedly already heard about Marie and that she comes from the object which has fallen from the stars” Lexa loudly proclaimed after a tense moment filled with silence “She will stay with us from now on and she is under my personal protection” she added in a hard tone, staring the warrior down, until the man finally inclined his head in a mute gesture of respect and acceptance.</p><p>The whisperings had immediately fallen silent as soon as Lexa had opened her mouth and the commander let her gaze wander over the crowd for a moment after she had fallen silent as well. She was satisfied with what she saw. Most people seemed to be accepting her word without any doubt and she would even go so far as to interpret the warriors’ expression as being filled with curiosity.</p><p>Lexa had already entertained another scenario as to how to deal with the invaders. They already knew that the invaders possessed technology and guns which their own people had lost all knowledge about. It did not have to come to pass that the invaders would side with the Mountain Men, a clear alternative was that the invaders could side with them. Lexa had already wondered what the invaders’ technology could all offer to them. What if by eliminating the invaders, they were also eliminating a real chance to bring down the Mountain together instead?</p><p>The real problem was that the invaders seemed to have declared war on them, before Lexa could have decided herself on which route, she wanted to take with them. Their acts were now forcing her hand and she knew that her people would not be easily accepting of the invaders if she tried to approach them peacefully and she also could not assess if the invaders might surprise her and eliminate whoever she sent to their camp to communicate with them and probably long before her delegate even had the opportunity to speak.</p><p>Lexa banned all those thoughts from her mind quickly once it registered into her senses that she was still holding Marie’s hand and she felt its warmth and softness again. The girl’s hand was so much smaller than her own, fingers chubby and free from any callouses. The child was looked up at her with wide grey eyes and she seemed to be torn between surprise at her display of obvious power and maybe even a little intimidated and Lexa immediately let her expression soften a fraction. She definitely did not wish for Marie to be afraid of her after all. She gave the girl’s small hand a slight encouraging squeeze, letting warmth infuse into her green eyes as she looked down at Marie for a moment, before she lightly pulled her further from the tent and into the direction of the meadow where her horses were being kept.</p><p>Marie quickly forgot about the tension from moments before, once the majestic horses came into view and while she had walked behind Lexa before, she now quickened her step and even pulled at the commander’s hand now in clear enthusiasm.</p><p>Gustus followed both of them with a slight frown. He had thus far not seen very much of the child and he did not yet know what to make of the girl. It was obvious that a deep connection must have formed between the young leader and the little girl from the stars during the last days and he was sure that it had only deepened during the time of the child’s sickness. Lexa’s worry for the girl had been almost palpable and the commander had spent almost all day with the girl, keeping watch over her breathing. He could not understand why Lexa had decided to keep the child this close to her, as she certainly could not possess any notable skills yet which would make her valuable to the commander.</p><p>Once they stood directly in front of the meadow and the fence which had been erected around it, Marie could already see the commander’s black mare. The animal had obviously noticed their approach too and was slowly making her way gracefully towards the fence.</p><p>Marie watched with wide eyes and a joyful smile how the horse pushed its enormous head over the fence and down into her direction. She immediately stretched out her free hand towards the horse’s nose, but Lexa was holding her back for some reason and she tugged again at the commander’s hand in building impatience without looking back over her shoulder at the woman.</p><p>The corners of Lexa’s mouth pulled upwards into the hint of a smile, but her expression froze when she noticed Anya approaching the meadow from the other side and the general’s concerned expression did not bode well with her. She let go of Marie’s hand, giving the girl the opportunity to go over to her mare, which the child clearly wanted.</p><p>Marie immediately moved to the mare, not even hesitating for a second in reaching out with both hands. The mare was holding her head so low, that Marie could easily let her fingers caress over the silky skin of its nose, while she tried to scratch the horse behind one ear with her other hand and she was nearly hugging the horse’s head now, standing on tiptoes to reach high enough.</p><p>Lexa watched Marie with her horse for a moment and although she felt the tension building within her body, the scene in front of her warmed her heart and kept her outwardly perfectly calm.</p><p>Marie did not notice Anya’s approach until the general was already standing beside Lexa, saying something rapidly in the language she could not understand. Lexa had mentioned before that she would need to be taught their language if she truly would live with them from now on.</p><p>The horse seemed to have enough from the intense caress in that moment as well and butted its head up gently, pushing the girl a little away and directly breathing down on her, which elicited a loud giggle from Marie.</p><p><em>“Lincoln has spoken with the invaders. They seek an audience, without weapons”</em> Anya related what Lincoln had told her just moments ago. She had already agreed to meet up with the leader of the invaders, although she highly doubted that the meeting would lead to anything. If nothing else, then they could officially declare war on them instead.</p><p>Lexa’s brows furrowed in a mixture of anger and confusion. She was fairly certain that Lincoln would not betray their people. The young man had mostly been brought up by Indra and she had a deep sense of trust for the experienced warrior. She wondered why Lincoln would even have sought contact with the invaders again, but she got the answer only a second later.</p><p><em>“One of our scouts has seen him meet with a woman from them”</em> the disdain in Anya’s voice was nearly palpable and although she had not offered much information, her expression relayed enough.</p><p>Lexa raised a brow at the older woman, surprised that Lincoln had obviously formed romantic ties with one of the invaders. She contemplated the opportunities meeting peacefully with the invaders could offer for a few silent moments.</p><p>Her concentration was broken when Marie stepped back from the black horse with a wide smile, having noticed Anya as well and the little girl loudly squealed the general’s name, hurrying over to them and launching herself at the woman.</p><p>Anya’s reflexes were quick enough to catch the little girl before she could fall and all of her anger had all but melted from her sharp features, replaced with a soft smile as she greeted Marie “Hello to you, too, little one”.</p><p>Marie’s smile widened another fraction and she gave the woman an enthusiastic and brief hug, before she already began to wiggle within the woman’s arms, wanting to return to the horse instead for now.</p><p>Lexa watched Anya place Marie back onto her feet and the general’s expression was rather perplexed when the girl immediately dashed back to her black mare. She would give the invaders another chance she internally decided <em>“Meet with them, but take some of your trusted warriors with you. You know what to do.”</em></p><p>Anya nodded curtly and the surprise at the commander’s orders only flashed minutely over her features, before she turned on her heel and stormed away from the meadow, probably to assemble the warriors who would accompany her.</p><p>Lexa watched her former mentor leave for a moment, before her gaze returned to Marie. The little girl was also watching Anya disappear with a noticeable frown on her roundish features and she remembered what she had wanted to offer to Marie before Anya had appeared “How would you like learning to ride?”</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Yeah! Yeah!” Marie squealed immediately in obvious enthusiasm, nearly jumping up and down in front of the commander.</p><p>Lexa gave the girl a soft smile “We need to saddle her before you can ride” she said, motioning the girl to step away from her black mare and to follow her.</p><p>Marie’s head tilted slightly to the side “Wanna ride” she said with a slight frown. It suspiciously sounded as if they would need to work before, she could get the promised chance to ride.</p><p>“You will” Lexa assured her “but we need to do some preparations. Can you see the rider there?” she tried to reason with the little blonde girl, crouching down behind her and pointing into the direction of the tree line where a warrior was working with his new horse.</p><p>Marie’s gaze followed the way into which Lexa pointed and she nodded after a moment.</p><p>“Can you see that the horse has been saddled and is wearing bridle?” Lexa asked lowly, giving Marie another moment, before the child nodded in agreement. “So, we need to do that, too, before you can ride” she added.</p><p>Marie’s expression turned contemplative for a second, before she nodded and her enthusiasm visibly returned “What do we gotta do?” she asked a little too loudly.</p><p>Lexa’s features pulled into a grimace for a second, hearing the girl’s high tone resonate loudly within her ears. She resisted the urge to rub at them and put a smile back onto her face as she got back to her feet and extended a hand towards the little girl.</p><p>Marie grabbed onto the commander’s hand at once and readily let herself be guided over to what she now recognized as the stables. Her eyes grew a little wide once they entered the building. There was a row of a few stalls and in some of them other horses were standing.</p><p>“Are this all your ho’ses?” Marie wanted to know, still looking around with wide eyes.</p><p>Gustus slightly shook his head at the girl’s clearly impressed question, following behind the commander in silence as well.</p><p>“No, Marie” Lexa answered with a slight smirk “I have other horses in Polis” she added at the disappointment flashing over the little girl’s features.</p><p>“What’s Polis?” Marie echoed the name a little awkwardly, but with honest curiosity.</p><p>“Polis is our capitol” Lexa explained and handed the girl the bridle for her horse as the saddle was too heavy for Marie to carry.</p><p>Marie seemed to think over the short answer for a moment, torn between inspecting the bridle in her hand and the thoughts crossing through her mind. “You don’t live here?” she finally asked in slight confusion.</p><p>Lexa shook her head in the negative “I do not usually live in TonDC, no. The commander resides in the capitol in times of peace” she answered more elaborately.</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side “Is that far away?” she asked. They had not seen any villages or something and it just occurred to her now that it was stupid to assume that TonDC was the only place where people still lived.</p><p>“It is a one to two days journey” Lexa took up the saddle for her horse from the rack, shaking her head at Gustus who immediately wanted to take it from her.</p><p>Marie’s brows creased together as she tried to imagine how long such a journey was, but she was not able to really imagine it at all.</p><p>Lexa’s smirk deepened at the spaced out look of concentration resting on Marie’s roundish features and she cleared her throat loudly to get the girl’s attention back “Let us go back out and saddle the horse”.</p><p>Marie shook her head to clear her thoughts and immediately scurried after Lexa with a bright excited smile on her face.</p><p>The actual process of saddling was not as fascinating as Marie could have imagined and she was not able to help Lexa at all. She actually just stood behind Lexa and watched her and listened to her description of what she was doing and which details were important to take care of for safety reason.</p><p>“Ride now?” Marie asked impatiently while Lexa was still occupied with fastening the straps of the saddle.</p><p>Lexa nodded, taking a little step back from her black horse and she took the little girl up into her arms and placed her high in the saddle.</p><p>Marie took in a sharp breath and she immediately grasped onto the saddle.</p><p>Lexa kept one hand on the girl’s side, keeping her upright in the saddle and took the reigns in her other hand. “Ready?” she asked in a kind tone. She was a little worried that the horse was too big for Marie. She had not learned riding on a war horse herself but rather on a smaller pony and she knew that the little girl could seriously hurt herself if she fell down.</p><p>Marie nodded with a forcefully brave expression. There was a huge difference between being on a horse alone and being in the saddle with Lexa together.</p><p>Lexa felt the child’s body tense under her hand as she slowly guided her horse to start moving across the meadow. “You are not going to fall down” she reassured the girl and urged her mare to move a little faster.</p><p>Marie needed a few moments, but she soon squealed in joy on the horseback and loudly demanded Lexa to make her mare go faster and faster every few moments.</p><p>Gustus watched the commander from the background with a deep frown. The young leader was already jogging next to her mount, not caring in the slightest that she was being watched by warriors from all sides.</p><p>“Faster, faster!” Marie shouted in a shrill tone, accompanied with loud and high giggles.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The frivolous atmosphere was destroyed abruptly by loud shouting coming from the other side of the village.</p><p>Lexa quickly called onto one of the other warriors to take over her horse, needing to take care of the situation at once. She helped Marie down from her black mare and kept hold on one of the child’s hands, pulling her along quickly.</p><p>Marie hastened to follow Lexa as quickly as possible, needing to nearly run to keep up wit the woman’s surprisingly fast pace. She did not feel too well with the fact that they were obviously moving directly into the direction of where the shouting was coming from.</p><p>The rest of Lexa’s good mood was destroyed by the sight which greeted them once a path cleared through the quickly gathering crowd around the commander’s tent. Anya stood directly in front of it and the body of one of the warriors who had accompanied the general to meet with the invaders was lying at her feet.</p><p>Marie did not understand why the warrior seemed to be sleeping next to Anya on the ground, it surely could not be comfortable and it was not exactly quiet around them either.</p><p>Angry mutterings were travelling through the gathered warriors and Marie pressed herself closely to Lexa. The smile which had grown on her lips at seeing Anya again was replaced with a grimace of slight fear.</p><p>“The invaders have to die!” one male warrior loudly claimed in a murderous tone and many others agreed with him at once.</p><p>Lexa let the crowd rage for a moment, before she abruptly raised her hand and everyone immediately fell silent.</p><p>Marie’s eyes widened at how promptly everyone followed this mute order and she did not understand a word from what the commander was saying now. Whatever was going on must have been very serious though and she sensed how tense the atmosphere was around them. She was mostly glad that no one seemed to pay her any mind, while she held onto one of Lexa’s hands.</p><p>She was startled out of her musings when Lexa suddenly began to move, tugging at her hand sharply and Marie hastened to catch up with her before she would lose her balance and stumble. Her grey eyes were still fixed on the warrior next to Anya and she wondered why he did not wake once others picked him up and his body was obviously completely lax.</p><p>Marie did not ask where Lexa was pulling her to and just tried to keep up with the commander. She noticed that Anya was suddenly walking beside the woman and they were speaking with each other in hushed hurried words, both their expressions a mixture of worry and anger, if she interpreted them correctly.</p><p>She did not recognize the building they were approaching and Marie felt her breaths wheezing painfully in her chest. She was still not entirely healthy and together with the exertion of riding for some time, this hurry was exhausting her quickly and she felt beads of sweat form on her forehead.</p><p>Lexa felt her anger recede noticeably when they shortly stopped in front of the healer’s hut and she looked down at the little girl still holding on tightly to her hand. She only felt now how sweaty the child’s fingers were and she did not like at all how pale and shaky Marie appeared and she felt guilt gnaw at her mind at having forgotten that the girl was still battling the residuals of her heavy sickness.</p><p>“Do you feel alright?” Lexa asked in a worried tone, although she could see with her own eyes that the answer could not be positive.</p><p>Marie nodded her head with a forced and false expression. She could still feel the tension in Lexa’s body which had not been there before and she somehow sensed that it did not matter all that much now if she was feeling sick or not, whatever had happened must have been important. She felt out of breath and her throat was aching again, while her nose seemed to be blocked again as well, which just made breathing all that more difficult.</p><p>Lexa frowned at the child’s insistence and it was burning on the tip of her tongue to scold the girl for lying so blatantly, but she knew that they had bigger concerns at the moment and she knew that she was partly to blame for Marie’s condition now, letting the girl ride had probably been too early as well.</p><p>She considered asking Gustus to bring Marie back into her tent and stay there with the girl, but she did not know how long she would be away and she did not want to leave the child now either. So, she decided against it and gave Anya a curt nod to enter the healer’s hut.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anya looked at the little girl with sympathy in her brown eyes. It was obvious by her reaction that this was probably Marie’s first contact with death. They had heard already that her definition of death was vague at best.</p><p>Marie was still looking at the warrior’s chest which so obviously did not move anymore with wide grey eyes. “He’s not b’eathing” Marie exclaimed in a wavering tone and her whole frame was noticeably shaking.</p><p>Lexa knew that she was not required to stay within the healer’s hut. Alira and Anya would be able to prepare the dead warrior for the funeral rites without her help and she thought it important to remove Marie from the situation. “<em>Prepare him for the pyres</em>” she commanded in a calm tone and after receiving a curt mute nod from Alira, she wordlessly scooped Marie up into her arms, including the fur which was wrapped around her little body, and quickly left the healer’s hut. She was not surprised to see Gustus talking to Sierra directly in front of the building. Her brows furrowed though when it seemed that the anger Gustus’ face displayed seemed to be directed against his own daughter and they seemed to have spoken heatedly until Lexa’s arrival had interrupted them. Lexa did not fail to notice how the anger in the other woman’s dark eyes was underlined with hatred once her gaze fell on Marie and recognition had flashed through them.</p><p>Marie must have noticed Sierra’s dark gaze too and the child tensed noticeably within Lexa’s arms, trying quickly to turn around and hide from view and she burrowed herself against the commander’s throat in an attempt to shield her face too.</p><p>Lexa tightened her arms around the little girl protectively and her expression must have carried enough of a warning to keep Sierra frozen to her place. Fortunately, no one else tried to approach Lexa on her way to the commander’s tent as well, while Gustus had fallen into step beside them mutely. Lowly, Lexa ordered him to oversee the preparations of the funeral pyres for the two warriors they had lost to the invaders’ guns and that she did not wish to be disturbed for now.</p><p>Internally she was a little worried that Marie had not said a single word or even moved a fraction and she feared that Marie might be in some kind of shocked daze.</p><p>Lexa entered the commander’s tent immediately after Gustus had left to carry out her orders. She regarded the atmosphere within TonDC too explosive right now for Marie to be outside and she sensed that she would need to comfort the girl and she could not be as soft as she probably needed to be now for the little girl in front of the eyes of her people.</p><p>Lexa sat down at the table with Marie and she simply continued to hold the girl close for long silent moment. She let one hand rub soothing circles over the girl’s back, while she let the fingers of her other hand glide through the child’s blonde curly hair, untangling the locks gently. She did not know what words she could offer to Marie to sooth her.</p><p>Death was a constant companion in the life of a warrior and most of their lives were cut short by it. Marie had not known the deceased warrior personally and Lexa was fairly certain that the little girl would be thinking of her parents now. Marie had not seen their bodies after their deaths or she would not have been convinced of the possibility that they might return at one point in the future.</p><p>“<em>Mother?</em>” Marie suddenly exclaimed in a teary tone.</p><p>Lexa felt her heart give an almost painful squeeze at the pain in the child’s tone, while she also felt warmth blossom in her chest. Her hand stilled on the girl’s back and she brushed a strong of blonde hair from her forehead gently “Yes?” she inquired in a sort tone, looking at the girl patiently.</p><p>“Mommy and Daddy stopped b’eathing too, right?” Marie asked with an almost thoughtful expression.</p><p>Lexa nodded her head “Yes, this is what it means to be dead” she explained in a heavy and serious tone, keeping an intense eye contact with the child and giving Marie the chance to sort through her thoughts, waiting patiently for a reaction from the little girl.</p><p>“So, they really can’t ever return?” Marie checked for clarification with wide grey eyes.</p><p>Lexa nodded again with a sinking feeling at the girl’s miserable expression. She was surprised and deeply touched by Marie’s next words though.</p><p>“Please don’t stop b’eathing too” the girl exclaimed with tears shimmering in her grey eyes and Lexa felt a lump lodge into her throat at the raw emotions being displayed within Marie’s eyes. She was touched inexplicitly that Marie obviously didn’t wish to lose her, but she also knew that she would never be able to honestly make such a promise. No one could promise to stay alive, least of all herself. The position as the commander was not exactly a safe one. Although she wished to stay for longer for the girl’s sake now too, to protect her from harm and to be able to give her the life and love she clearly deserved.</p><p>Lexa felt it immediately when Marie began to cry and she let the child wound her little arms around her neck and burrow her wet face against her throat and only softly rocked back and forth with the girl, letting her cry out her sorrow. She would not be too surprised if it would not be the last time that Marie cried over the loss of her parents too.</p><p>It was no wonder to her that Marie had soon cried herself to sleep within her arms and Lexa sighed lightly under her breath as she gently loosened the child’s arms and carefully manoeuvred Marie over to the bed, lying her down without waking her up again.</p><p>Lexa remained in front of the bed for long silent moments, simply standing there and staring down at the sleeping girl.  She did not like the sight of the child’s tears glistening on her roundish cheeks, but she wondered if she was cut out to function as a mother figure for the little girl. Her life was full of dangers and unpredictable and Marie was so unused to their world, that the girl clearly had no understand of her position as the commander at all.</p><p>She sighed under her breath once she finally turned from the bed. She knew that she would need to order her warriors to attack the invaders now. Too much blood had already been shed by them for her to be able to give them more time. Still, Lexa wondered if more of them might be as Marie, pure and innocent. But it would be of little consequence once her warriors attacked them. She knew that allowing them to live and possibly make contact with the Mountain Men was a threat she could not justify.</p><p>It felt weird to Lexa to wonder now if Marie would cry for some of their deaths too. The girl had mentioned a few names of the ones who must have taken care of her since they had fallen into Trikru territory. So, Lexa found it reasonable to assume that Marie was feeling for them too. She did not understand why a slightly bitter feeling settled into the pit of her stomach at this thought and she quickly shook her head, stopping the thought process altogether for now.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa kept herself busy with sharpening her swords for some time, although she always kept the blades in pristine condition  it always seemed as if a little extra care could not harm them and it kept her internally calm to occupy her hands with the monotonous task of gliding the wet stone over the metal over and over.</p><p>She was so immersed in her mindless task, that she barely noticed her thoughts wandering. Lexa knew that it was a frightening possibility that the Mountain Men already were aware of the invaders’ presence on their lands and that they could try to initiate contact as well.</p><p>Marie woke up an undefined time later and she frowned at the weird almost scratching sound resonating around her through the tent. It took her mind a long moment to catch up with what had happened before and the knowledge that her parents could never return to her, felt heavy on her heart. A part of her had continued to hope that her parents would one day return, but now after having witnessed what a death meant, she had to accept that it was not a possibility for that to happen.</p><p>Marie still felt her throat scratching uncomfortably, indicating that her sickness was not gone fully yet, but she still felt a little better.</p><p>Slowly, she pushed the fur down and sat up after stretching a little. Her grey eyes soon located Lexa sitting at the table, but the woman was sitting with her back to the bed, so, she was not able to see what she was doing.</p><p>Marie carefully climbed down the bed, still finding its height sort of weird. The bed she had used in her room with her parents had not been on any stands, so, she had been able to easily get in and out of it without help as soon as she had been able to move enough.</p><p>She slowly padded over to Lexa, feet bare against the material of the tent and she came to stand directly next to the woman.</p><p>Her grey eyes widened a fraction when she recognized the weapon Lexa was holding and she tilted her head to the side in interest. She had not seen such a weapon up close yet and was immediately fascinated with how shiny the thing looked. Marie wished to bring the sword out of the tent and hold it into the sunlight, expecting the material to reflect the light in pretty shining sparkles.</p><p>She did not know what Lexa was doing with the sword though. She could recognize that the weird scratching noise was made by Lexa somehow, but she did not understand for what reason she was doing so.</p><p>Marie remained standing beside the commander for long silent moments, simply watching her in silence. She had watched her mother sew clothes occasionally as well and her mother had never liked it if she asked too many questions. She had always been told that she was not supposed to disturb a working adult, so, she kept quiet now too.</p><p>Lexa sensed the little girl standing next to her and waited a few moments for Marie to speak up. She glanced over at the child and the curiosity burning within her large grey eyes was so pronounced, that Lexa was slightly confused why the girl was not saying anything.  </p><p>She paused her movements and turned the sharp edge of the sword away from Marie, before she slightly turned towards the little girl with a kind expression and she was relieved to note that the girl truly did not appear sad or emotional anymore.</p><p>Marie gave the woman a soft shy smile and moved closer to her, so that she could slightly lean against one of her long legs. “Looks p'etty" she commented in a light tone and the exertion not to reach out and touch the weapon was almost palpable on her expression, but she had been taught already that she was not allowed to touch things which were not hers. They could be dangerous or just prohibited to touch as she could accidentally break them or something.</p><p>Lexa inspected the child for a silent moment, recognizing that the girl obviously had already been brought up with some rules. She would need to figure out soon how Marie had been brought up exactly, if she wished her to stay. “You are allowed to touch the sword now, Marie” she offered in an honest tone. She knew that things which were prohibited usually carried an even higher fascination for children. Marie would need to learn though that a sharp weapon was no toy by any means and that she could easily hurt herself or others with it, if she was not careful.</p><p>Marie’s expression brightened immediately at the allowance and she reached out quickly with her little hands.</p><p>Lexa pulled the sword slightly out of reach for the girl and her expression had turned serious again “Careful and not so quick. The sword is very sharp. I do not want you to hurt yourself with it" she explained and once the girl had nodded in clear understanding she extended the sword towards Marie again.</p><p>It would certainly be better for Marie to get to know weapons under close supervision. Lexa kept several weapons on her person and even more were distributed among her belongings and she did not want Marie to play with one, if she left her alone for a few moments.</p><p>Marie reached out towards the sword again, slower this time and her grey eyes darted up to Lexa for a moment, waiting for another confirmation before she finally made contact with the shining metal. It felt cold against her fingertips and hard, just like the metal walls in their home had felt like.</p><p>Lexa slowly turned the sword around once Marie had let go of the blade, so that the little girl could grasp onto the handle of the weapon.</p><p>“Be careful, it is quite heavy” Lexa warned the little girl in a serious tone, before she let go of the weapon completely.</p><p>Marie was still surprised by the weight of the sword and although she tightened her hold on the blade, she was not able to keep it straight and the tip of the weapon soon fell to the ground. She tried to rise the sword again, like she imagined it would be used in a real fight.</p><p>Lexa watched the child’s attempt with amusement dancing through her green eyes and a gentle expression rested on her features.</p><p>It was obvious immediately that Marie had absolutely no idea how the sword should be used and that it was too heavy for the little girl to raise it high enough to be of any use anyway.</p><p>She tried to remember how her own first experiences with a sword had been. She  could still remember that Anya had refused to let her touch a sword for long months. The older woman had insisted that she learned each and every stance and technique with a wooden staff and later with a blunted training sword, before Anya entrusted her with her first real sharp sword. She could also remember that she had needed some time to adjust to the additional weight of a real sword in comparison to the wooden staff. But she could not clearly remember how old or small she had been at those days.</p><p>The large sword looked weirdly out of place in the hands of the young child. Lexa knew that some of their own children began their training to become a warrior one day at around the girl’s age though. Somehow the child appeared younger and more innocent though and something within her mind did not like the feeling watching the girl play around with it evoked.</p><p>“Gonna be a warrior like you" Marie exclaimed in a euphoric tone with a bride smile plastered onto her roundish features.</p><p>Lexa gave the girl a slight smile “If you train hard enough, you will make a great warrior one day". She could of course not know if the girl truly had what a great warrior needed, but she knew that with enough ambition and endurance, the girl could grow up to become whatever she wished to be. She internally wondered though what Marie might have dreamed of becoming while she had lived among the stars.</p><p>Marie soon lost the fascination with the sword though. It was much too heavy to move it around like she wanted to in her head.</p><p>Lexa took the sword back from Marie and placed it onto the table, out of immediate reach of the little girl. She would need to remember now that she had a child living with her which would certainly require some adjustment on her part.</p><p>“What had you wanted to become before?” she asked in honest curiosity and pulled Marie closer to her.</p><p>Marie titled her head to the side slightly and a smile settled onto her features again, before she exclaimed in a chirpy tone “A p'incess".</p><p>Lexa chuckled under her breath at the girl’s prompt answer.</p><p>“With a p'etty d'ess and a big castle" Marie added brightly and her grey eyes seemed to twinkle with joy.</p><p>Lexa felt the corners of her lips curve into an honest smile and she pulled the little girl into her lap. “How would you like drawing the castle for me?” she proposed to Marie kindly.</p><p>It was too early to put the girl to sleep for the night, but she also did not want to take her out of the tent again before the funeral rites would start. She would try to bring Marie to bed and let her stay within her tent during the funeral rites. The little girl was still physically weakened and the rites would take long into the night, too long for the child to stay up in her mind.</p><p>Marie immediately nodded in agreement to the woman’s suggestion. Her mother had asked her to draw pictures for her too before and she had always loved to do so.</p><p>Lexa stopped Marie’s enthusiasm momentarily as she pointed down on the maps, after she had removed the sword completely out of reach. It were the maps onto which Marie had drawn before. Lexa was fairly certain that the girl had not done so on purpose, but she still did not wish for a repeat of the occurrence.</p><p>Marie’s expression turned sheepish immediately when she realized that she had drawn on the map. She had truly not noticed that she had drawn over the sheet of paper. “’m so'y" she offered in a shy tone and with a slightly frightened expression. Her mother had once been really angry as she had drawn onto a shirt.</p><p>“Be more careful the next time, please, Marie” Lexa admonished the girl in a kind tone and she kept her expression soft.</p><p>Marie nodded again with a shy smile, but she still hesitated for a moment, before she finally began to try and draw the castle from her imagination, hoping to be able to show it to Lexa afterwards. Her mother and the teacher had said that she was talented in her drawing after all.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lexa spend the early evening together with Marie in the commander’s tent.</p><p>The little girl was happily working on the drawing of her castle and her princess and seemed utterly concentrated on her task at hand. Lexa had watched the girl scribble away for some moments, thinking that the girl could probably soon also be taught more theoretical skills. Her attention span was obviously long enough to try and hold lessons with her. She would have expected that Marie would lose interest in her drawing soon, but as the silence had settled comfortably between them, only interrupted by the little scribbling sounds Marie made on the paper, Lexa turned her attention to a few reports which still needed her attention.</p><p>Marie smiled brightly at her finished picture some time later, inspecting it for a silent moment longer for things she still needed to alter. She had drawn a large castle with quite a number of towers and she had tried to draw a princess in front of the castle and she had drawn both as well as she know how to do. She had tried to make the princess look like Lexa, but she was not entirely satisfied with her work.</p><p>“Are you a p’incess, <em>nomon</em>?” Marie finally interrupted the silence in the tent in a chirpy tone. She could easily picture Lexa wearing a shining and sparkling crown on top of her brown hair, but she had greater difficulties in trying to imagine the woman wearing a red or pink flowing gown. She had thus far only seen Lexa wearing dark clothing and the only colourful thing she had seen so far on the woman had been a long red sash. She remembered that Anya had already told her that Lexa was the commander which meant that she was some form of leader, but the woman had not told her anything further. So, she guessed that Lexa could also be a princess, or would she be a queen?</p><p>Lexa looked up from the latest reports from one of her spies who had infiltrated the ranks of queen Nia’s loyalists to be faced with the child’s grey eyes look at her in obvious deep interest and she felt her heart skip a beat at the child’s nonchalant usage of the term “mother”. She noticed that Marie had also abandoned her drawing and she wondered how long ago the girl had finished already and stayed quiet. “I am not a princess, Marie” she denied the little girl’s question in a kind tone.</p><p>Marie’s smile dropped a little in obvious disappointment, before her expression turned thoughtful. She had noticed of course that the other people treated Lexa different than how people reacted to Anya in comparison and she already knew that Anya was a general. She remembered from one book that a general was a military term. She had already concluded that Lexa must have a higher rank than Anya possessed, although she was confused by the fact that Lexa was apparently younger than Anya and Marie knew that the chancellor on the Ark had always been an older adult. “Are you a queen then?” Marie asked after a moment of contemplation and her head tilted slightly to the side, while she narrowed her grey eyes at Lexa as if she was looking at some form of puzzle, she could solve by just looking close enough and find the answer.</p><p>Lexa completely discarded her reports and stood up from her chair, walking over to the girl. She remained standing behind the child for a moment, gazing down at her drawing. Marie seemed to possess at least some talent for drawing and it was obvious what she had wanted to draw and it gave her hope that Marie could show talent for making maps and writing.</p><p>Marie looked up over her shoulder and their gazes connected for a silent moment and her smile grew again shily. </p><p>“I am not a queen, little one, but the commander” Lexa exclaimed, taking the child up into her arms mutely for a moment, sitting down and placing Marie into a comfortable position in her lap.</p><p>“But what does that mean?” Marie questioned further with a little frown. She had heard the word before a few times of course, but no one had explained it to her so far.</p><p>“Being the commander means that I lead the clans” Lexa explained in a kind tone while she let one of her hands rest flatly on the girl’s back, feeling the warmth of her little body seep through her clothes and she could also feel each breath the child drew.</p><p>Marie’s frown only deepened further. Lexa’s answer had not really explained what the commander actually was, but her mind was stuck on another piece of information. “There more clans?” she wondered out loud in astonishment. She knew that the scientists on the Ark had all been convinced that humanity had died out with the end of the old world.</p><p>Lexa nodded in agreement “There are twelve different clans in total and I united all of them together into the coalition, ending the wars between the clans” she explained and pride had noticeably filtrated into her tone.</p><p>Marie’s confusion only grew. She had never heard the word “coalition”, but she was fascinated with the information that there were so many clans. She could only count to twenty yet, so twelve sounded like an awfully high number. “What’s the diffe’ence?” she wanted to know with curiosity burning within her grey eyes. She wondered if the clans were all visibly different somehow or why there actually were different clans.</p><p>“You mean how the clans differentiate between each other?” Lexa clarified the girl’s question and waited until the child had nodded her agreement a second later, before she explained “The clans are all based in different locations. You and the youths who have come to earth with you, have landed in Trikru land. The name of our clan would translate to tree people in your language and we were named after the forests in which we live”.</p><p>Marie nodded along slightly and her expression still showed a deep concentration. “The othe’ clans live somewhe’ else?” she supposed in a soft tone, showing clearly that she doubted her own conclusion.</p><p>Lexa’s green eyes flashed with acknowledgement and she nodded in agreement “Very good, little one” she praised the girl in a kind tone “Most of the clans have indeed been named after the kind of terrain they inhabit.”</p><p>Marie scrunched up her brows in confusions. Lexa had used a lot of words she did not exactly understand.</p><p>She had already read all of them in a book or another, but she had not understood them there fully either. In the beginning of her switching from children’s’ books to adult books, she had tried to ask her parents for the definition of all the big words she had not understood, but they had not been able to help her either. In fact, they had told her that she should stick to books that she understood and that she would not be required to achieve this kind of knowledge to work on Farm Station later, like they had been doing for all their lives.</p><p>Lexa chuckled slightly at the child’s obvious confusion and how her little mouth curved into a cute dissatisfied frown “Ask, if you do not understand something” she told the blonde girl in a kind tone, the tone she usually used with her younger nightblood children too, “How are you to learn otherwise?”.</p><p>Marie thought over the woman’s words in silence for a moment and Lexa could almost visibly see the gears turning in the girl’s mind, before the child gave a slight nod.</p><p>“For example, the people from Ice Nation live in the north and in the deepest part of their lands, the snow and ice never thaw” Lexa explained what she thought was most likely for the girl to be confused over “The people from the Desert Clan live in the Dead Zone which consists mostly just of a desert” she added for further clarification.</p><p>Marie nodded again and internally wondered how much of the world was still populated. She remembered having seen some maps of the inhabited parts of the old world and she knew that almost the whole surface of earth had been heavily populated.</p><p>But she was stopped from asking her question by Alira entering the commander’s tent, carrying with her a large tray with food. Marie’s previously open expression visibly faltered and she burrowed herself a little closer to Lexa, grey eyes falling to her own little hands playing around with the hem of her shirt.</p><p>Lexa’s lips thinned a little at the girl’s sudden shyness. Alira had helped greatly in taking care of Marie while the girl had been sick and the child had seemed to like the handmaid well enough, that she found her returned shyness somewhat weird now.</p><p>But Alira did not seem offended by the girl’s antics at all and just smiled kindly at the child, ignoring her clear attempt to vanish from view. Instead, she took a small bowl from the plate and directly held it in front of the girl’s view. The bowl contained raspberries, the berries the child seemed to enjoy the most and Alira had specifically asked for them for Marie.</p><p>“Ras’erries” Marie exclaimed in a chirpy tone, seemingly forgetting her previous shyness in a blink and smiled brightly at the woman with happily shining eyes.</p><p>Lexa shook her head at the girl’s antics with a soft expression.</p><p>“<em>Indra asked if it will be fitting to start the burning ceremony in a candle mark</em>” Alira related the general’s question to the commander as she took a step back from the table again.</p><p>All that Marie could understand from what had been spoken between Alira and Lexa was that Indra’s name had been mentioned. She remembered the dark-skinned general they had encountered in the village, but she really wanted to learn this strange language everyone around her was speaking now. She wanted to be able to partake in the conversations and it made her feel weird and unsafe not to know what being spoken.</p><p>Lexa nodded her head in agreement and dismissed the handmaid a few moments later. Her braids were still in place and did not need to be redone and she could handle dressing herself in the regalia of the commander without help well enough.</p><p>Marie had already begun to eat a few of the raspberries and Lexa gently took the bowl from her hands and placed them out of reach “Eat some of the other things, too” she ordered the little girl and her voice took on a hint of sternness at the girl’s apparent disappointment “You can have more raspberries later” Lexa added as a promise.</p><p>Marie made a little pout, but her expression turned happier again at the added promise of getting the raspberries as a kind of desert. The only thing she really missed about the food from the Ark were the deserts, she had loved the different kinds of colourful puddings they used to have there.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>After they had finished their dinner in relative silence, Lexa placed Marie back on her feet. She frowned a little at how tired the child appeared to be. She doubted that bringing the girl along to the burning ceremony would be a good idea. She had the foreboding that the child would just fall asleep after some time and that it might be better to leave her in the tent instead.</p><p>It was as if the girl was reading her thoughts and confirmed her suspicion by yawing deeply.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lexa spent the morning in quiet peace with Marie within the commander’s tent.</p><p>The burial ceremony for their two fallen warriors had continued late into the night, just as she had already expected it to. Thankfully, the little girl had still been in a deep sleep when Lexa had joined her in the bed. It had worried her slightly that she had spotted traces of dried tears glistening on the girl’s roundish pale cheeks in the dim moonlight which had filtered into the commander’s tent and she internally wondered if the girl might have had a nightmare before. But her own deep exhaustion had quieted her worries quickly and Lexa had followed Marie into sleep only moments after lying down.</p><p>In the morning, the little blonde girl had woken her punctually with the rise of the sun and her slight squirming movements next to Lexa had woken the commander promptly. Lexa was used to having a light sleep as her life depended on it. Her position as the commander was dangerous enough that she always had to be vigilant of a possible assassination attempt, even while she resided in one of the protected villages of Trikru she could not feel entirely safe.</p><p>After Lexa had helped the little girl climb down from the bed, Marie quickly vanished behind the screen, separating the bathing area of the tent from the rest, to relieve herself and returned to the bed only a few short moments later with a kind smile turning the corners of her little mouth upwards.</p><p>Lexa stretched beneath the furs, biting back a little yawn of exhaustion. She had probably not gotten more than three hours of sleep during the previous night and felt that now. “Do you wish to sleep some more?” Lexa questioned the little girl with a hint of hope underlying her tone. She wisely had not scheduled any meetings for the early hours of the morning and knew that she now could afford to sleep in before her attention would be needed later when they would plan the attack on the invaders.</p><p>Marie titled her head to the side, grey eyes peering up at the woman inquiringly. She did not feel tired anymore, but she knew from her parents, that adults liked to sleep longer if possible and her father had usually allowed her to climb into bed with him, if she had woken up first. They would then continue to lie in bed together and cuddle. Sometimes she would fall back asleep again and other times she just enjoyed the closeness and listened to her father’s soft snores. She had always known when it was time to finally get up for real as her father would usually tickle her fully awake then, before sending her off into the bathroom to get ready for the day.</p><p>Marie noticed now that Lexa appeared to be more tired as well. Her green-eyed gaze was not as sharp and awake as it had been the day before and it seemed that dark shadows were slowly forming beneath her eyes.</p><p>So, Marie slowly climbed back onto the bed and crawled under the fur Lexa was holding up for her invitingly. She immediately nestled herself back against the woman’s side and quickly felt her own eyes growing heavy again as well. Lexa had snaked one arm around her and Marie felt her long fingers softly drawing soothing circles on her back, before she unbidden drifted off to sleep again.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya was slightly surprised to hear from Gustus that the commander had not left her tent at all yet. She knew how short the night had been, but it was still untypical of the woman to still be in her tent.</p><p>Gustus let the general enter without any hesitation and Anya remained standing in front of the bed in almost astonished silence for long moments. The fact that Lexa had not woken up at her entrance showed Anya clearly how utterly comfortable her previous second was in her current position. The younger woman’s features were completely relaxed and the hint of a contented smile was playing around her mouth. Marie was lying on top of Lexa’s upper body and the commander was protectively holding the blonde child even closer to her chest with both arms wrapped around her little body. Marie had nestled her face into the crack of Lexa’s throat and was sound asleep as well.</p><p>Anya hovered in front of the bed uncertainly. She internally was happy to see Lexa obviously feeling so well in the closeness of another human being, after the younger woman had held up her strong unapproachable facade of not feeling anything so long after Costia's death. She knew that it certainly would get complicated and difficult for the commander to keep the little girl so deep in her life, but it was obvious that the decision had already been made and she would do everything within her power to support her with it.</p><p>Weirdly enough it was Marie who woke up first a few moments later. The child blinked her grey eyes open slowly, stretching herself a little on top of Lexa. It took her another moment to spot Anya standing next to the bed and her roundish features pulled into a welcoming smile, looking up at the general with her grey eyes shining. “G’d mo’ning, Anya” Marie breathed out in a soft tone.</p><p>The girl’s movements together with her soft words, finally woke Lexa up as well. The brunette woman though seemed way more surprised to spot her former mentor standing beside her bed with a weird expression on her features. Lexa knew how dangerous it could become if she let down her guard and internally, she was angry at herself. If Anya had been assassin, there was no doubt within her mind that Marie would have been dead before she had even woken up.</p><p>Marie seemed to sense Lexa’s suddenly darkened mood and a confused little frown settled on her features. She had still felt comfy and all warm when she had noticed Lexa tensing beneath her. Before she could have said anything though, the commander quickly sat up, her arms still wrapped around Marie for a moment and before she knew what was happening, she was standing next to the bed, blinking up at the woman in startlement.</p><p>Lexa gave Marie a little nudge in the direction of the tent reserved for bathing “Wash yourself” she ordered in a slightly brisk tone.</p><p>Anya sighed under her breath at the commander’s apparent annoyance. She knew the younger woman well enough to be able to identify her little cues, like the slight clench in her jaw and the way her fingers twitched at her sides, before Lexa balled them into fists.</p><p>It was obvious that Marie was more than just a little confused at Lexa’s brisk tone and the child blinked at the commander in rising worry for a moment, before her grey eyes switched to Anya.</p><p>The general gave the young girl a slight smile and mutely nodded her head for Marie to follow Lexa’s order.</p><p>Lexa watched the minute exchange with a frown and it only fuelled her annoyance at herself.</p><p>“<em>You are both protected here</em>” Anya exclaimed in a carefully measured tone. She knew that she was no longer in the position to lecture the younger woman about anything and she was still not fully certain on how close they were again.</p><p>Lexa just snorted under her breath and rolled her eyes at the general; they both knew that she was never safe. Could she really take over the responsibility for Marie’s young life and put her in that kind of constant danger as well?</p><p>Anya offered to let Marie accompany her to her planned training with Tris, sensing that it might be better to let the brunette mull over her thoughts in solitude for now.</p><p>Lexa gratefully accepted the older woman’s offer. Marie had seemed fascinated enough with her swords that she was certain that the child would love the opportunity to watch a combat training.</p><p>Marie was visibly unsure once she joined them back in the main part of the commander’s tent and the little girl kept her distance, remaining in the middle of the tent forlornly.</p><p>Lexa resisted her internal urge to pinch the bridge of her nose and instead forced a smile onto her features “You can go with Anya and watch her train with Tris” she informed the blonde child in a kind tone “How would you like that, little one?” she added in an even softer tone.</p><p>Marie’s expression remained neutral for a moment as she processed the woman’s words and her grey eyes seemed to search for something within Lexa’s features, before she nodded her head and a smile began to brighten her features again at the prospect. She did not really know Tris yet, but she was really curious to see how well the older girl could already fight.</p><p>“Come on then” Anya offered to the young girl, reaching a hand towards her “We will grab something for you to eat on the way” she added, knowing that the child could not have had breakfast yet. The girl was too thin to miss out on any meals if otherwise possible.</p><p>Marie seemed happy enough to accompany the general out of the commander’s tent, after Lexa personally had made sure that the child was dressed correctly and that her wild blonde locks had been put into place, tamed in a single braid now.</p><p>Marie let her gaze travel around them, holding on the one Anya's hands as she was led through the village. It was obvious that the inhabitants of TonDC had been up and about for some time already as the village appeared pretty crowded.</p><p>She still received a piece of bread with cheese and an apple for breakfast from a hut. Anya had asked for it in their native tongue and Marie promptly wanted to know what the specific words had meant. She tried to mimic their pronunciation under her breath a few times, trying to memorize their meaning as well. She wanted to learn this foreign language as quickly as possible.</p><p>Anya listened to the child’s mumbled tries at Trigedasleng with a mixture of amusement and fondness. The girl’s pronunciation was still far away from what it was supposed to be, but she did not think it pressing to correct her at this moment. She could only fathom how impressive all of these new experiences must be for the little girl and it was good that Marie showed interest in her new surroundings, showing her wish to adapt to it. The girl would need to adopt a completely different way of living if she was to survive on earth and blend in with their culture. But she guessed that it would be easier for Marie to adapt, as she was still very young.</p><p>Marie was still munching onto the bread when they reached the training pits. Anya directed the girl to sit down in a safe place, where she would not be in the danger of sitting in the way and being overrun accidentally, and called Tris over to her.</p><p>Marie curiously let her eyes flit over the older girl, taking in the sword dangling from her hip and the leather armour she was wearing. She wondered if she would look like that too one day in the future. She had asked Anya on the way if she would be allowed to partake in their training somehow, but the general had immediately denied her.</p><p>She sat down cross-legged, looking up at Anya and heard her speak a few curt words to Tris. The older girl nodded her head and a moment later both of them stood facing each other, sword in hand. Marie watched with rapt fascination how the two circled around each other for long moments, before Anya attacked.</p><p>Her mouth opened in a little “oh” at the speed and ferocity of the attack and Tris seemed barely able to raise her own sword up quickly enough to catch the blow and Marie heard the sound of the metal colliding ringing loudly through her ears. But she understood perfectly now why Anya had denied her plea to be allowed to participate. She remembered how heavy Lexa’s swords had been and she knew that she would not even be able to raise it so high above her head, like Tris was doing, or quick enough. It also seemed as if Tris needed almost all her strength to catch the general’s blows, so she knew that she herself would probably had fallen over after just one attack.</p><p>Marie continued to watch Anya and Tris fight with each other for what felt like a long time. The older girl had visibly broken into a sweat, but it seemed as if the general had not really exerted herself at all yet. </p><p>A group of younger children playing with each other near the edge of the forest caught Marie’s attention some time later and she could not tear her gaze away from them. She could hear their bright laughter echo over towards herself even louder at times than the warriors fighting with each other. Marie internally wished that she could just walk over to them and ask them to join in with their play, but she was afraid that they would not want her to play with them.</p><p>Anya had noticed that Marie’s attention had been on the group of children ahead of them for some time now and she sent Tris to wrap up their training with making a few rounds to boost her stamina. She stepped closer to the young girl, crouching down beside her for a moment.</p><p>Marie turned her head away from the group of children quickly, once she noticed Anya next to her and a sheepish expression settled onto her features “I was watching” she claimed.</p><p>Anya snorted slightly under her breath; she had seen after all that Marie had stopped paying any attention a while ago, but truthfully the child had watched them longer than she had anticipated beforehand. “Do you want to play with them for some time?” she asked the girl, when Marie’s gaze returned to the group of children a moment later.</p><p>Marie nodded her head immediately but her first reaction of enthusiasm was dimmed quickly and her tone sounded unsure and soft as she asked “What if they don’t like me?”</p><p>Even though Anya was crouched down right next to the child, she had to strain her hearing to catch Marie’s whispered words. She highly doubted that the children would reject Marie though. She knew that children could be quite harsh though, but Marie would need contacts with children in her own age too. So, she inclined her head towards the blonde girl “You do not know if they like you or not until you have tried. And if they do not like you, then you can make them like you” Anya tried to reason with Marie.</p><p>Marie contemplated the woman’s words for a few moments, before she seemed to straighten her posture and finally got up from the ground, walking over to the group of children with her head held high.</p><p>Anya watched the child near the group of children with an amused smile softening her features. It was plainly obvious that Marie was just trying to pretend to be sure of herself, but it seemed that the children were reacting at least with curiosity to Marie.</p><p>Her attention was called to Lexa suddenly appearing beside her though. The commander had obviously calmed down again and her green eyes were fixed on Marie.</p><p>“She is trying to make friends?” Lexa asked with a slight frown knitting her brows together. She had grown up in a small village and most of her childhood had circled around training. She had always known that she would one day have to participate in the conclave, so making friends had never been on her list of priorities. She had known that she would either die in the conclave or become the commander. Being commander meant to be alone. She had accepted this lesson with a bleeding heart after Costia’s demise. She hoped that it would be different somehow with Marie though.</p><p>Anya inclined her head in agreement, looking back over to the blonde girl. She frowned as well, when she noticed how Marie had crossed her arms over her chest. The other children seemed to not be laughing with the blonde child any longer, but rather were laughing at her now. She sighed under her breath in rising annoyance. She would have wished it for Marie that she was easily accepted, but the child was still visibly a foreigner.</p><p>Lexa’s expression also had darkened visibly and the younger woman seemed to contemplate interfering on the child’s behalf.</p><p>Anya shook her head at her former second “Let her deal with it on her own” she advised. They could not always be with the girl to fight her battles and Marie would need to find her place on her own.</p><p>Lexa narrowed her eyes at her general, but remained standing beside the older woman with barely hidden impatience.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>“Can I play with you?” Marie addressed all of the children in what she hoped to be a firm tone and smiled unsurely at them.</p><p>Two girls immediately nodded their heads, answering her smile with a welcoming one as well. The boys appeared less than ecstatic about her arrival though and the one who looked as if he was the oldest one openly sneered at her.</p><p>“How should you play with us?” he asked in a hostile tone.</p><p>Marie’s brows furrowed together and she crossed her arms over her chest. She was lost for words though.</p><p>The boy’s dark eyes glimmered in what he regarded a small victory and he looked back at a tree behind him. He quickly climbed up the tree, calling down loudly “Let’s make a race!”</p><p>The other children seemed happy about the prospect and Marie was left standing in front of the trees.</p><p>“You are not from here” the boy shouted down, hanging from one of the lower branches with ease “You cannot play with us in the trees! You are not one of us and cannot climb”</p><p>Marie’s frown deepened when the other children joined in on his taunting laughter and her lips thinned while her grey eyes flashed angrily. She would prove to them, that she indeed could. With determination burning through her veins, Marie approached the tree and somehow tried climbing it. She managed to get up a few branches without a problem and a triumphant smile settled onto her features “See, I can” she retorted towards the boy.</p><p>The boy did seem openly surprised “See, if you can keep up” he continued to taunt the younger girl though and jumped to another branch easily.</p><p>Marie tried to follow the other children and she smiled brightly when she managed to follow them for some time, but a moment later, she slipped and lost her balance. With a shrill scream, Marie fell down from the tree, falling onto the ground with a thud.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa and Anya had been discussing the attack on the invaders while watching Marie and both immediately hurried over to the child the very moment her balance obviously slipped, but they were not fast enough to catch her.</p><p>Lexa’s gaze was slightly murderous as her eyes connected with the boy who was now openly laughing at Marie, which promptly shut him up.</p><p>“Are you hurt?” Lexa asked the little girl in a worried tone, crouching down next to her, ignoring the other children still in the tree.</p><p>Marie’s expression showed her shock and she was shaking slightly as she tried to stand up again, but a pained grimace settled onto her roundish features as her weight settled onto her leg. “Hurts” she breathed out with a sob already mixing into it.</p><p>Lexa immediately pulled the child up into her arms, cradling her little body to her own protectively “A healer will look at that immediately” she informed the girl and let one hand gently run over the child’s back, before she tried to sooth her in a soft tone.</p><p>Anya followed the commander through TonDC and shortly left them to summon a healer to the commander’s tent. She hoped that the girl had not broken a bone. She knew that a broken bone still mostly healed well in a child that young, but it would make everything even more complicated.</p><p>Marie slightly sobbed under her breath, feeling the fright settling into her system as she clutched onto Lexa’s coat.</p><p>“Sshhh, you are safe, little one” she soothed the girl in her arms in a soft tone “You will be alright in no time” she promised, keeping the child close.</p><p>“I don’t like t’ees no mo’e, <em>mother</em>” Marie retorted in a whiny tone, once Lexa had carried her inside the commander’s tent and sat down with her.</p><p>“Oh, I am sure that you will like them, once you have learned how to move in them, little one” Lexa promised the girl in a soft tone, allowing Marie to lean away a little, so that she could gently wipe away a few tears from her round cheeks.</p><p>Marie leaned into the gentle caress for a moment, before she shook her head in denial “T’ees are bad” she retorted with the conviction of an offended child.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lexa waited in silence with Marie for the healer to arrive, letting the girl sit on her lap, keeping an arm looped around her smaller body. She felt how Marie’s sobs slowed down and her breathing was just slightly hitched, once Alira arrived.</p><p>Nyko had still not returned to TonDC, so the handmaid was the only one with some founded knowledge about healing. Lexa was relatively certain that Marie would be keeping the healers in Polis busy, once she brought the child to the capitol. Small children were prone to accidents and the capitol would offer so much for the little blonde girl to explore.</p><p>Marie smiled shily at the older woman. She remembered from the Ark that she had to sit still and let Abby examine her, so she behaved herself now as well.</p><p>Alira was as thorough in her examination as she could, feeling along the girl’s slightly swollen ankle, twisting it in various directions and pressing on it to feel if any bones were shifting.</p><p>Marie only winced mutely at the administrations, trying to resist the urge to pull her foot away from the woman.</p><p>Lexa felt the girl’s body tense as soon as Alira began and she soothingly rubbed the child’s back. It was obvious that Marie was trying her hardest to remain motionless and still and she internally had to acknowledge that child’s strong will in that moment.</p><p>Alira gave the girl an encouraging smile “Nothing appears broken” she assessed towards Lexa “I wish Lexa had been such a compliant patient as a child”.</p><p>Lexa pulled a slight grimace at the older woman. She had been about the age Marie was now, when Anya had first brought her to Polis and she had gotten to know Alira then. The woman had been serving the commanders before her from young adulthood on.</p><p>Anya had taught her from their very first lesson together that as long as she was still able to stand and hold up her weapon, an injury needed to wait to be assessed and cared for until after training was done; no enemy would just stop and pause their attack in a real fight after all. She had been ecstatic about starting her own training and had been quite overambitious at times and sitting still for an examination which she regarded as pointless had never been her strong fort as a child.</p><p><em>“The boy can be released soon” </em>Alira relayed the message Indra had told her for the commander. One of the invaders had been caught by a patrol some time ago. Now that they knew the invaders to behold guns, Lexa had decided that they could use the boy to weaken the invaders. The boy had given up all the information he beheld after some mild torture wilfully. The amount of information the boy had had been disappointing though.</p><p>Marie’s smile at the small anecdote dropped and she frowned slightly at the switch in language in front of her. She had noticed before that Lexa and those around her usually spoke in English for her sake if she was around. So, naturally she was curious about what was being said now.</p><p>Alira shortly left the commander’s tent to gather what she would need to prepare a salve for the child’s ankle which would bring down the swelling more quickly and help with the pain the girl would be experiencing once she put weight back on her feet.</p><p>“Is eve’ything fine?” Marie asked in a soft tone once they were alone in the tent again and waiting for Alira to return.</p><p>Lexa nodded her head in agreement, she would need to decide soon about how much Marie would be privy to. If she kept the child around herself like she was planning to, then the girl would naturally be exposed to all different kinds of information. “It is nothing you need to concern yourself with” Lexa tried to ease the child’s obvious curiosity. Now that the girl was not able to speak their language it was still relatively easy to keep things from her, but Lexa highly doubted that Marie would need very long to begin to pick up certain things. She knew that young children had an easy time learning a new language and Marie would of course need to learn Trigedasleng if they ever wanted her to be able to truly integrate with their people.</p><p>Marie’s frown didn’t really ease and it was obvious that she was not satisfied with that answer, but the girl did not speak up again, instead she began playing around with a clasp from Lexa’s coat. “Will you teach me how to climb a t’ee?” she asked into the easy silence a moment later in a soft tone. She wanted to be able to do what the other children could.</p><p>Lexa’s lips curled into a slight smile “Of course, once your foot is well again” she promised the little girl. She doubted that they would need to remain much longer in TonDC. Once Anya lead her troops against the invaders and they had been dealt with, then there would be no need for her to remain in the Trikru village.</p><p>Marie remained still again while Alira applied the salve and a bandage for stabilisation around the child’s ankle. To cheer the girl up a little, the handmaid had brought along a small honey cake for the girl; a treat most of their own children loved.</p><p>Marie looked at the offered pastry for a moment in silence, mutely glancing up at Lexa for confirmation that she was allowed to accept the pastry from the woman.</p><p>Lexa gave the child an encouraging nod, although she was internally perplexed that Marie would be looking for allowance to her at all, but she was touched by it. The child’s immediate trust to her was obviously morphing quickly into an emotional bond.</p><p>Marie accepted the pastry with shining grey eyes, sniffing at it cautiously before she took the first bite. The smile which grew on her roundish features at the sweet taste was almost blinding and she immediately took a second bite “Yummy!” the girl assessed with a full mouth in an enthusiastic tone.</p><p>Alira nodded her head with an answering smile “I will make sure that you receive another one alongside of dinner tonight” she promised to the girl.</p><p>Marie’s enthusiasm visibly grew and a few curls bounced around her roundish features as she nodded her head in agreement, obviously excited about the prospect of getting more of the honey cake.</p><p>“Do not speak with your mouth full” Lexa chided the girl gently, before she continued to watch the child eat the pastry in silence, Alira had left a moment ago and she was surprised by how slowly the child was eating, as if she was trying to make it last as long as possible.</p><p>Marie even offered a part of the treat to Lexa, but the woman declined with a slight smile. She had never cared too much for the overly sweet pastry, while Costia had loved it, so much that she had gotten up earlier before training just to be able to get her some from the markets in Polis.</p><p>“Do you want to explore more of TonDC now?” Lexa asked after Marie had finally finished the small cake.</p><p>Marie slightly shook her head. Her foot was still pulsing painfully and she doubted that walking would be comfortable at all.</p><p>So, instead Lexa remained within her tent with Marie for the next few hours, starting to teach the child a few basics of their language. It was cute to watch Marie trying to mimic the harsher pronunciation, making little grimaces as she did so.</p><p>Anya joined back with them in the early evening, she had questioned the boy from the intruders again. <em>“You’re teaching her Trigedasleng already?” </em>the general asked Lexa with slight surprise in her tone.</p><p><em>“Me lea’ning Tigeslen’” </em>Marie answered with a grimace of utter concentration, she obviously had difficulties to form the words.</p><p>Lexa chuckled under her breath at the horrible pronunciation of the young girl “It is “<em>Tri ge da sleng”</em>” she intoned the word extra slowly, emphasising each syllable carefully for Marie.</p><p>Marie mouthed the word back almost perfectly.</p><p>“You will be able to talk in our language in no time” Anya assessed with the hint of a smile on her lips.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>On the next morning Marie was already feeling better. The girl had slept peacefully through the night, sheltered by Lexa’s closeness and was fully energetic again after breakfast.</p><p>Lexa had agreed to Anya challenging her to a combat fight on the training pits and she brought Marie along to watch. Quiet a few people had already gathered around the small clearing they used for training, having heard that the commander herself would be showing off her skills.</p><p>Lexa left Marie at the side-line under the watch from Gustus and in Tris’ company. The older blonde girl was clearly awed with her and she was fairly certain that her former mentor had told the girl many stories of the time she had spent under her tutelage.</p><p>Marie was surprised why there were so many people around now. She had watched Anya and Tris train together yesterday and the place had been almost empty then.</p><p>She watched Anya and Lexa fight with each other under the almost constant comments coming from Tris.</p><p>The older girl continued to point out certain moves, naming each one and it seemed that her adoration for her mentor and her leader was only growing with each second “I wanna be able to fight like this one day” she told the little girl in an excited tone.</p><p>Marie titled her head sideways a little, trying to picture herself being able to fight like this, but she doubted that she could even move this quickly at all, not speaking about having to handle a weapon as well. She had thought that Anya had already used her full strength yesterday with Tris, but it was obvious now that this had not been the case at all. Anya and Lexa both seemed to be exerting themselves now, but it seemed to her as if Lexa was prevailing Anya slightly.</p><p>“Do you think I can lea’n that, too?” Marie spoke up for the first time since Lexa had left her side. She was standing close to Gustus, just like Lexa had ordered her to, but she was not feeling at ease in the burly man’s presence. She had been fine with just listening to the older girl talk and watching the fight between Lexa and Anya, trying to follow the women’s movements was challenging enough for her.</p><p>Tris only begrudgingly turned her eyes from the fight to shortly glance over the younger girl. “You’re going to have a great future with the commander and the best Trikru general teaching you” she promised easily, having heard already from Anya that it was likely that they would not return to the small outpost they had resided in previously, but instead accompany the commander to the capitol. She was excited about the prospect, as she never had seen the capitol yet.</p><p>Marie seemed unsure of the older girl’s words, but she did not comment on them, feeling the dark eyes of the burly man having turned to her and she wished that the fight would end soon, so that Lexa would return to her.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marie smiled brightly at Lexa and Anya once both women ended their fight. The girl had actually no idea who of the two had won at all, but the fight had been extremely impressive.</p><p>A few of the younger warriors were cheering for their commander though, so, Marie guessed that Lexa had in fact won.</p><p>Lexa nodded to them in acknowledgment before she made a dismissive gesture and the crowd around them began to slowly diffuse.</p><p>“Have you both learned something?” Anya addressed both girls likewise, wiping at the sweat on her face, which only resulted in her smearing some dirt across her face.</p><p>Marie nodded quickly, but her smile faltered visibly once she noticed Lexa bleeding and her expression turned even horrified at noticing that the woman’s blood was not red like her own, but it appeared to be pitch black instead. She had never seen blood with this colour. Was the woman sick? Would she stop to breathe soon too?</p><p>“Are you sick?” she questioned in a low tone, expression still horrified and grey eyes glued to a small gash bleeding above Lexa’s left eyebrow.</p><p>Lexa frowned slightly at the child in confusion and shook her head in the negative, unsure if the fight might have just frightened the little girl. It was likely that the girl had never seen such a brutal fight before, but it had not been her intention to shock the little girl. “I am fine” she reassured her in a soft tone and crouched down directly in front of Marie, refraining from reaching out and touching the girl for now, not wanting to startle the obviously upset child “You do not need to be afraid” she tried to sooth the blonde girl in a gentle tone.</p><p>Marie reached out a chubby little hand, cautiously wiping at the black substance which had begun to run down the left side of the commander’s face. “But it black” she said in worry and confusion likewise, inspecting her fingertips with the black blood on them closely, scrunching up her nose as she did so.</p><p>Lexa’s expression lost her confusion and she gave the girl a reassuring smile, taking her little hand into her and cleaning her blood from her fingers “That is the blood of the commanders, little one, nothing to worry about”.</p><p>“How it tu’ned that way?” Marie retorted questioningly; grey eyes focused still on the slightly bleeding wound on the commander’s face. She could not understand how blood could somehow turn black like this.</p><p>“It has not turned that way magically” Lexa answered with a chuckle under her breath, as she wiped her sleeve over the left side of her face, removing most of the blood that way “I was born with it. Children born with this blood, nightbloods we call them, are all considered the next potential commander and are educated for their role in the capitol” she explained slowly to the young girl.</p><p>Marie seemed to soak up the information like a sponge, grey eyes wide and expression one of utter concentration and fascination “So, you not sick?” she checked once again, head titled slightly to the side in question.</p><p>“No, little one, I am not” Lexa assured the little girl once again in a patient tone.</p><p>“’kay” Marie acknowledged with a nod and the residual worry left her expression.</p><p>“Tris, go and gather what we will need for a trip to the river” Anya addressed her second in a commanding tone and the older blonde girl immediately nodded her head in acknowledgement, turned on her feet and hurried away from the training pits, weaving her way through the crowd effortlessly.</p><p>“Can I go with them,<em> mother</em>?” Marie looked at Lexa with a hopeful expression, tone shy and soft.</p><p>Lexa shortly bandied a look with Anya, before she nodded in confirmation to the little girl.</p><p>Marie smiled brightly in reaction, looking up at Anya with excitement glimmering within her large grey eyes.</p><p>“Let us go then” Anya said in a kind tone, offering a hand to the child. Their trip would certainly take longer when she took Marie with them, but there was nothing pressing planned for the rest of the day, so that should not cause any problems. The child was small enough, that she could easily carry her on their way back as she highly doubted that the girl would truly have enough physical strength to complete the track without help.</p><p>Marie took hold of the general’s hand without hesitant and she actually waved goodbye at Lexa as she followed Anya in the direction of the edge of TonDC and towards the forest.</p><p>Anya slowed her steps accordingly to how quickly Marie was able to walk at all, she did not wish the girl to fall and harm herself after all.</p><p>It took Tris only a few moments to catch up with them, slightly out of breath and loaded with a large bag.</p><p>On the way to the stream, Anya took the time to point out all the different plants they encountered, asking Tris to name them and to enumerate their usage.</p><p>Marie tried to listen to all the new information being poured inside her brain. She continued to sometimes tug at Anya’s hand when a plant seemed especially pretty and she wanted to touch it.</p><p>Anya finally let go of the girl’s hand with the sharp order not to move out of sight. She knew how easily she could lose the girl in the dense forest around them.</p><p>Marie began to move around Anya and Tris with slightly jumping motions, humming a joyous tone to herself from a song she remembered from her father. She plucked a few flowers, arranging them into a colourful nosegay.</p><p>Anya watched the girl with a sight frown, wondering what the child had planned to do with the flowers. She had at first though that Marie was picking them up to get some ingredients for some kind of tea, but the child seemed to only select colourful flowers.</p><p>When she asked the girl after it, Marie softly answered “Gift fo’ Lexa” flashing a smile at the general, before she turned around again, plucking up another flower.</p><p>Anya slightly shook her head at the child’s antics, but let her be, not finding any harm in it although she failed to see the sense of it.</p><p>They continued their way like that, until Anya suddenly heard something. She sharply called Marie to her side.</p><p>The little girl looked up, clearly startled by the shouted order and her grey eyes were noticeably wide when she stepped up to the woman.</p><p>One of Anya’s hands rested on her sword, while her eyes were scanning the forest ahead of them. Tris stood beside them and just when a figure suddenly appeared in front of them, the older girl immediately let her bag drop to the ground, making a grab for her own weapon.</p><p>“Reaper!” Anya hissed in disgust as she took up her own sword. She crouched down in front of Marie, locking gazes with the girl as she pointed to a high bush to their left “I want you to hide there. You do not come out before I tell you” she ordered the girl with a tone which rung with finality.</p><p>Marie nodded her head quickly and she stumbled slightly as the general gave her a rather unexpected push in the direction of the bush. She obediently crawled right into the bush, ignoring the twigs pulling at her hair and slightly scratching over her cheeks.</p><p>Marie watched with wide eyes how the sole figure ahead of Anya and Tris suddenly was joined by two others and she held her breath when the fight began. She did not know against what exactly the two were fighting. The sounds which they made did not sound exactly human or they were definitely not using any kind of real spoken language at least and Marie felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing up in rising fear.</p><p>What neither of them must have expected was for a fourth reaper to suddenly appear directly in front of the bush in which Marie was hiding and the little girl elicited a high-pitched shrill scream, when the creature bent closer to her and grabbed into the bush. What she had been able to see of the reaper had been a horribly distorted face and she absentmindedly wondered just what must have happened to this human, as she was fairly certain that this thing must have been a human in the past.</p><p>“Marie, run!” Anya suddenly shouted the order, appearing behind the child and trying to get the reaper’s attention away from the little girl.</p><p>Marie scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and she began to move away from the ongoing fight on instinct. She felt her injured ankle smart slightly, but she paid it no further mind, moving through the forest as fast as she could, hoping that she was actually moving in the direction of TonDC and not away from the village.</p><p>She only slowed when she heard noises coming from the direction in which she was moving. Marie remained rooted to the spot, indecisive on what to do. Should she hide? Could that be a patrol from the village? They could bring her back then. But it could also be a dangerous animal or another of those reaper things.</p><p>Her grey eyes widened though when she finally recognized Bellamy and Clarke appearing in front of her.</p><p>The older blonde girl appeared completely dumb struck for a moment as her blue eyes scanned over the young girl. All of them thought that Marie must have been fallen prey to a predator or that the girl could have been killed by the other survivors living on earth.</p><p>“Marie” Clarke exclaimed, letting the bundle of guns she had been carrying drop to the ground of the forest carelessly “you are alive” she spoke out the obvious, kneeling down in front of the little girl. She reached out encasing the child’s roundish cheeks with her hands and caressing over the soft skin.</p><p>Marie nodded mutely, still too shocked at what had been happening to speak.</p><p>Bellamy stepped up directly behind Clarke and gave the young child a warm smile “Are you injured?” he asked in a caring tone, eyes scanning over the blonde girl quickly. The child seemed unharmed apart from a few obvious superficial scratches on her face. It did not fail his notice though that the girl was not wearing Ark’s clothing any longer and she had also not worn her hair in this fashion with them either, which only allowed the conclusion that Marie must have been with the people from earth. It puzzled him though that these people must have allowed Marie to live and apparently also given her shelter and care instead of killing her, after what they had done to Jasper, he would have expected a harsher response.</p><p>“No, ‘m fine” Marie responded a little breathless now herself. Although she had run away just moments ago, she had still held onto her bouquet of flowers. She frowned down at it though with a disappointed expression, most of the pretty flowers had been destroyed in her haste. Her grey eyes fell onto the bundle of guns at Clarke’s feet and she noticed Bellamy carrying another one as well. She wondered just where they had gotten the weapons from, she knew that the Ark had not given them those.</p><p>“You picked them for someone?” Clarke asked in a curious tone, immediately wondering what had happened to the girl during the past days. She had continued to search for the little girl for some time, but even she had to acknowledge that there was no hope any longer for Marie to survive on her own after the third day had passed.</p><p>Marie nodded her head “Gift fo’ Lexa” she repeated her previous answer to Anya in a sad tone. She could not give her those now though. She turned her gaze over her shoulder, wondering just how far away Anya and Tris were now.</p><p>“We need to get back to camp” Bellamy spoke up, tightening his grasp on his bundle of guns. He wanted to get back to the others and tell them about their newfound security measures.</p><p>Marie’s pout only deepened, she wanted to return to TonDC and not get back to the dropship. They had barely had any food there and no real places to sleep either. She wanted to get back to Lexa, she liked the woman and had felt safe with her.</p><p>Clarke got back to her feet, nodding to Bellamy in agreement. They still needed to cover a long walk back to camp and neither of them knew exactly when the sun would be setting, neither of them could navigate well through the forest in darkness.</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anya needed much longer to defeat the reapers, even with Tris’ help, than she would have liked. She did not know for sure in which direction the little blonde girl had run off and she could only hope to find her quickly. She knew that Marie could not be familiar with the way through the dense forest. She counted it as a good sign that she had not heard the girl scream again as she knew that there might have been even more reapers roaming around in their proximity.</p><p>She looked over at Tris after pulling her sword out of the body of the last reaper. The girl seemed unharmed safe for a few obvious scratches and a deeper gash on one of her arms. They had been lucky to not have encountered an even larger group of reapers as they tented to move in.</p><p>Tris was visibly heaving for air now, exhausted from the hard fight, but the girl still quickly retrieved their fallen bag of belongings, returning to Anya’s side a second later. The girl’s expression was troubled as she looked between the dead reapers and the forest around them “Where is Marie now?” she asked in a breathless tone.</p><p>Anya shook her head, slight annoyance rising. She did not know how quickly the little girl would have moved through the forest, but taking her hurt ankle into account, she highly doubted that Marie could have made it very far.</p><p>“You will search in this direction” Anya briskly ordered, deciding that they would have a higher chance of locating the lost little girl if they split up now, pointing to her left.</p><p>Tris nodded immediately and turned on her heel, obviously not even thinking about arguing with her mentor.</p><p>Anya kept her sword in hand, just in case there still were other reapers close to them, and tried to pick up the trace the little girl had left. To her utter dismay, she had great difficulties in locating Marie’s trace, the child was light and most of the plants on which she had stepped carelessly in her hast already had stood up again, hiding the girl’s steps efficiently.</p><p>She hoped that the little girl had not encountered reapers, Mountain Men or any predators. Lexa would surely be furious with her if something had happened to her new protegee under her new watch.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie threw another glance back over her shoulder, somehow hoping that Anya or Tris would appear out of nowhere. She did not want to return to the dropship with Clarke and Bellamy. She only noticed the pulsing painful sensation travelling up from her ankle through her leg now that she had stopped moving for a few moments and her frown turned into a slightly pained grimace.</p><p>Clarke had watched the younger girl and was confused at Marie’s antics. It was obvious that Marie seemed to be looking for someone. She had of course also noticed the changed appearance of the little girl and concluded herself that Marie must have been with other humans. It made her question though what they thought to know about the other survivors of the end of the old world. Maybe the grounders were not hostile at all and the attack on Jasper had been some sort of misunderstanding? But she was not able to spin a scenario within her mind in which it was warranted that Jasper had been used as bait by the grounders afterwards. It worried her though that the little girl was clearly in some form of pain now. “Where does it hurt?” Clarke asked the child in a gentle tone, crouching down in front of her again.</p><p>Bellamy huffed slightly under his breath, casting worried glances around them. He was not convinced at all that just because the grounders had obviously not killed Marie, that they would let himself and Clarke live as well.</p><p>“My foot” Marie exclaimed in a slightly whiny tone, holding it towards Clarke with a little sniffle.</p><p>“Have you twisted it while running here?” Clarke inquired and reached out to inspect the girl’s limp. She frowned though when she noticed that it was already bandaged and it seemed to have been done thoroughly as well. So, the grounders had not only sheltered and fed the little girl, but obviously also granted her medical care. Could they really be mistaken about their intentions?</p><p>Marie shook her head “Fell f’om a t’ee” she relayed shortly what had happened to her earlier.</p><p>Clarke and Bellamy both looked around them, now paying more attention to the trees above their head and both could not shake the feeling off at being watched from invisible eyes hidden between the leaves of the trees.</p><p>“We should get going” Bellamy repeated, voice getting firmer, as his dark eyes still searched around them.</p><p>Marie’s pained grimace turned into a pout and she shook her head “Wanna get back to Lexa” she intoned vehemently, grey eyes steeling over a fraction.</p><p>Clarke sighed under her breath. They had no way of finding out how close whoever had been with Marie before was now and she would definitely not leave the little girl alone in the forest, even less so that it was slowly but surely darkening around them as the sunset began. “You cannot stay alone here, Marie” she tried to reason with the blonde child in a gentle tone. She still remembered her mother’s words telling her to keep personal watch on their youngest delinquent. She still found it horribly unfair that Marie had ended up on the drop ship and she would give the council a piece of mind about it, if she could.</p><p>Marie looked up mutely at Clarke, grey eyes pleading and shimmering suspiciously as if the little girl could burst out into tears at any moment.</p><p>“We do not have time for this” Bellamy muttered under his breath. He knew from his own experience from dealing with his younger sister, that gentleness and understanding was not always the way to go and that sometimes you had to be strict with a young child to make them obey. So, directly looked at Marie now with a firm expression on his features “We are leaving now, Marie” he told the little girl in a tone which rung with finality “and you are coming with us.” His tone only softened slightly when he asked “Can you walk or do you need help?”</p><p>Marie furrowed her brows, but she shook her head in denial to the question. She knew this tone well from her mother. Her mother rarely had had to use it with her, but whenever she had, she had known that her mother would not take any further nonsense from her. She did not want to be carried by Bellamy or Clarke and she hoped that she would be able to keep up with them. Internally, she was hoping that she might get the chance to turn around and seek for Anya and Tris instead. What would happen though if Anya and Tris had not won this fight? Would Lexa send someone to search for her? Or even search for her in person?</p><p>Clarke had refrained from stopping Bellamy. She knew that the boy had the most experience in dealing with a younger child and it seemed to be working and the older boy was right, they really needed to get going.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>After a little while of searching almost blindly through the forest, Anya fortunately did locate an actual trail which must have been made by Marie. The little girl had obviously stepped onto a slightly muddier path and left distinct small boot prints behind.</p><p>The general tightened the grip on her sword when she heard voices in front of her only slightly ahead. She crept closer carefully without making sounds herself. She knew that Marie would not be speaking with herself and if she was not mistaken than she was picking up a male voice. It was possible that the little girl had encountered some people who had fallen from the sky with her. Anya frowned slightly in growing frustration. If she attacked them with Marie in the way, there was a real possibility of the child getting hurt. She would need to observe them first.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>In the meantime, Tris had crossed the complete way back to TonDC. She had not picked up any traces of Marie leading back to the village, although she had easily spotted the exact way again on which they had left the village together earlier. The bag with all the things she had packed for their planned bath was getting heavy and she wanted to get rid of it in the general’s tent, before she would turn back and try to locate Anya again. The general had not given her any clear orders on how she should proceed if she did not find Marie, but she wanted to help in finding the little girl. The child had appeared to be of a sweet nature so far and she knew that the commander had sort of officially taken over care of her, so, it would probably be regarded as very important that Marie returned to them unharmed.</p><p>Tris entered TonDC quickly, aiming directly for the general’s tent to store their bag. She had not expected to run into the commander though. The woman was dressed in her usual commander regalia and Tris felt her heart beat a little faster. How should she explain that she had returned alone to the village?</p><p>Lexa immediately knew that something was not right by the way Anya’s second reacted to spotting her in her path. She had been on the way to the communal hall to speak with Indra, but she detoured now and stepped directly in front of Tris. The girl barely reached her shoulder in heights and she was visibly nervous. It was obvious that the girl was alone and she quickly spotted the bleeding gash on one of her arms. Now that she looked closer at the girl, she noticed how dishevelled she looked and she had definitely not taken a bath like Anya had planned. Lexa quickly cast a glance over her shoulder, looking out if Anya might have just sent her second ahead, walking more slowly with Marie in tow.</p><p>The commander’s expression was unreadable when her gaze returned to Tris as there had been no sign of Anya and Marie. “What happened?” the woman inquired in a brisk tone. Uncharacteristically, she could already feel her heartbeat quickening slightly and her stomach coiled in anticipation. It was obvious that something must have happened on the way to the stream to Anya, her second and Marie and the fact that Tris had returned alone to TonDC did not sit well with her at all. “Where are Anya and Marie?” she added when the girl failed to answer after a moment.</p><p>Tris opened and closer her mouth a few times without a sound coming out and her hand holding onto the strap of the bag, balled to a fist nervously as she felt beads of sweat form on her brow. She tried to avert her eyes from the commander, but she felt her green eyes almost burning through her with their intensity “We…we… we encountered reapers” she finally brought out, shuffling with her feet and barely able to meet her leader’s intense stare. She swallowed forcefully when she spotted the tightening of the woman’s jaw and she waited with a baited breath for the reaction of the commander.</p><p>Lexa felt her heart nearly drop into her stomach as a few horror scenarios flashed up in front of her eyes. “Where?” she finally ground out through clenched teeth a long moment later. Her mind had switched from trying to make up scenarios of what had happened, to planning quickly what needed to be done to organise a search for Marie and the general.  </p><p>Tris quickly tried to explain to the commander where they had encountered the reapers and she tried to answer the commander’s next questions as clearly as possible, nearly having to run to keep up with the woman walking through TonDC very briskly in the direction of the commander’s tent.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marie was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. She had been sure that she would have to return to the other delinquents with Clarke and Bellamy, she had not seen any way of getting away from them.</p><p>After Bellamy had finally urged Clarke on and reprimanded her slightly, the older blonde girl had firmly grasped onto one of her smaller hands and Marie had basically been pulled along against her will through the forest and she knew that every step carried her further away from the grounder village, Lexa and Anya.</p><p>Marie was not even fully sure what had actually happened. She had been walking together with Bellamy and Clarke for what felt like a small eternity. Her ankle was hurting again, but she had not dared to speak up as both of them had already appeared tense enough. She had just wanted to sit down and rest for the night as the light slowly began to fade around them. She did not know what had really caught Bellamy’s attention, but suddenly the older boy had stopped in his tracks, looking around them with wide eyes. Clarke had seemed alarmed as well and before Marie fully had grasped onto what was happening, the older girl had tightened her grasp on her hand and really pulled her along, as they now ran through the forest, away from whatever seemed to be following them.</p><p>Marie had felt her ankle hurting more and more with each passing moment and she had been out of breath pretty quickly as well. Suddenly an arrow wheezed past them and lodged itself into the tree trunk behind them. Clarke and Bellamy both seemed scared by the attack, but for some unknown reason, Marie knew that she did not have anything to fear. Lexa would surely not allow her to be hurt like that. The commander wanted to protect her after all and she had the suspicion that they had been followed by grounders. The reapers had not used a bow from what she could tell and she had seen Anya train Tris, if the grounders wanted to shoot them, they would not have missed and shot at the tree.</p><p>Bellamy cursed under his breath, clutching the loaded automatic gun in his hand, trying to seek cover from the attack and simultaneously aiming to shoot back.</p><p>Clarke was trying to shield Marie from the attack. The near darkness which had fallen around them was not helping them in the slightest, the grounders were used to this environment.</p><p>Marie was internally hoping that her feeling was right and it were indeed the grounders and that Anya was among them.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya had followed Marie with the two invaders for some time now and she was still thinking of a way to get the little girl separated from them, which would not require her to attack them. She was alone, so she could not fabricate a rouse to lure the two invaders away and she still did not wish to risk attacking them and the little girl getting hurt potentially. She knew that their camp was still some distance to cross, so she resigned herself to wait, hoping that something would come to her mind. They could theoretically leave the blonde child with the invaders for now and just “collect” her once they attacked their camp with their army, but there was no way of making sure that Marie would not get into the middle of the attack and maybe not just get hurt, but even killed instead.</p><p>Her attention was called away from the two invaders and Marie, when she picked up sounds of someone approaching her from the other side and Anya tightened her grip on the handle of her sword, fearing that there had indeed been more reapers roaming through the forest. An encounter with reapers being on her own and in the vicinity of the invaders who obviously carried guns could very well mean her own death.</p><p>She lowered her sword though, when she recognized Tris who was strangely enough accompanied by Gustus and Lexa in person. Anya furrowed her brows, she could understand why Tris had tried to locate her and she bit back a slight grown, knowing that Lexa’s presence could only mean that her previous second knew what had happened.</p><p>The commander’s green eyes were determined and showed a certain amount of worry plainly within their depths.</p><p>Former mentor and student quickly had worked out a plan on how to separate the two invaders from Marie. Lexa had considered trying to take them hostage to question them and get a hold of their weapons, but she had discarded the idea to minimize the chance of Marie getting hurt accidentally.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie could not look around quickly enough to notice all the shadows which seemed to circle around them and her feelings of security faded for good and were replaced with fear instead.</p><p>Suddenly, Clarke pushed her down harshly, telling her to stay put and not move from their cover.</p><p>Marie put her hands above her ears when Bellamy began to shoot and the shots rang around her way too loudly. She had never heard this sound, but she knew that she did not want to hear it again, it was too loud.</p><p>The next thing she really realized was that someone was touching her shoulder and when she opened her eyes, she was not looking up at Bellamy or Clarke, but into Lexa’s concerned green eyes and Marie let out a relived breath and slowly got back to her feet. She frowned slightly when she could hear another shot being fired, but it sounded pretty far away.</p><p>“Anya and Tris have lured them away” Lexa assured the little girl in a gentle tone. It was obvious that the child was a little spooked by everything which had happened tonight and she could imagine that she must be exhausted as well. She knew that they would need a while to reach TonDC, so she opened her arms for the little girl and picked her up only a slight moment later. Although she had known the whole time that there never had been a single moment in which Marie had been in their direct line of attack and that their whole attack had just aimed at separating them, but Lexa felt relived now that she had the physical reassurance that the child was well.</p><p>Marie slung her arms around Lexa’s neck immediately, nuzzling her face into the crook of the commander’s throat and letting out a slight yawn.</p><p>Gustus watched his commander together with the young child with a slight frown, unsure of what he should make of the situation. He could absolutely not understand why Lexa had obviously decided to keep the little girl. He agreed that there was no sense in killing her. She was young and would adapt to their ways, but he would have expected for the child to remain within TonDC, moving her into an already existing family, but it was obvious that Lexa was already close to the child. The way with which the young commander was looking down at the little girl in her arms was obvious enough that it did not require further explanations.</p><p>Marie seemed to squirm a little within Lexa’s arms for a few moments and Lexa tried to lightly shush her, whispering to her that she could rest already and that she would be safe now. “I will not let harm befall you, <em>little star</em>” she assured the young girl in a firm but gentle tone.</p><p>Although the commander’s words had mostly been whispered into the child’s light hair, Gustus had still picked up enough to decipher their meaning and he only drew conferment from them. He sighed slightly under his breath, Lexa’s decision to keep the girl by her side would not make the commander’s life any easier, but he would stand by her decision. It was not his place to question his leader. He had seen the young woman grow into who she was today and he did see more within her than just their leader. On a personal level, he internally hoped that maybe the young child would be able to revive something within Lexa which he had feared to be lost after Costia’s brutal murder.</p><p>It did not take long at all for Marie to fall asleep within the commander’s arms and the child slept peacefully, sheltered by Lexa’s warmth. Lexa tightened her grip slightly around the small body, keeping her even closer to her own chest. She had meant her words; she would protect the little girl.</p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Marie woke up again the next time, she was disoriented for a moment. She needed only a few seconds to notice that she was lying within a comfortable bed and was covered with a soft fur. She blinked her eyes a few times, rubbing at them with her fists for a moment, before she sat up under the fur, keeping the fluffy material wrapped around herself, not wanting to lose the comfortable warmth yet.</p><p>Only a slight bit of light filtered into the tent, so Marie concluded that it was still dim outside. A shiver ran through her frame, when the memories of what had happened last night returned to her mind and Marie felt her heart beating a little faster as she vividly remembered the reapers attacking them. Marie was fairly certain that she would not forget their distorted faces any time soon.</p><p>Her fervently beating heart calmed immediately, once she turned her head to the side and spotted Lexa sitting at a table. It appeared as if the young woman must have taken a bath not long ago and her hair was still without their usual braids, falling down her back in wild brown waves. Marie had not yet seen her in this state and her mouth pulled into a smile, the commander looked much softer now.</p><p>Marie sniffed at the air around her, picking up the smell of the tea standing in front of Lexa. The air within the tent was also still heavy and moist with the smell of the oils within Lexa’s bathing water.</p><p>Lexa turned in her spot at the sound the child had made and gave her a soft smile in greeting. She had slept beside the little girl and Marie had once again cuddled to her in her sleep and Lexa herself had also rested more peacefully than she usually did, being comforted by the little girl’s presence.</p><p>“Did you sleep well, little one?” Lexa addressed the girl in a calm tone, giving her a soft smile.</p><p>Marie’s smile broadened a little as she nodded her head in agreement to the woman’s question. “You came to get me” she said after a second, grey eyes shining.</p><p>Lexa looked at the young blonde girl with a caring expression, reaching out and pulling the child gently into her lap. She softly brushed a lock of blonde hair out of her roundish features “I will keep you protected” she gravely promised Marie with a serious undertone to her voice.</p><p>Marie looked up at the young woman with trusting grey eyes and their gazes connected for long silent moments.</p><p>Their private peacefulness was disrupted when Gustus proclaimed Anya’s arrival at the entrance to the commander’s tent.</p><p>Marie gave a slight jump at the burly guard’s voice calling out all of a sudden. She was not used to the fact yet that the commander was always guarded and never truly alone. Her prior relaxed expression turned alarmed and she pressed herself tightly to Lexa’s stomach, hiding her face against the woman’s shirt shily.</p><p>Lexa raised a brow at the girl’s overly anxious behaviour, but she did not make a comment on it, instead she reached an arm around the girl’s little body, pulling her even closer to herself, before she called out to Gustus to let Anya enter.</p><p>The general strode into the commander’s tent a second later, already dressed for the impending battle. They had decided that Anya would lead a relatively small force of their warriors to the camp of the invaders. Neither of them expected the children from the sky to be able to efficiently fight back, even they obviously now had more weapons at their hands. From what Marie had told them, it was highly unlikely that any of the older children had received any efficient training in how to handle and shoot with their newly obtained weapons. They would definitely not possess any military strategical knowledge and should be easy to subdue.</p><p>The general furrowed her brow in obvious confusion at the little girl’s position on her former second’s lap. Anya had been intensely relieved that Marie had not been seriously harmed last night, she knew that they had all in all been lucky in that regard.</p><p>“<em>The troop is ready to march” </em>she proclaimed, nodding her head at the younger woman.</p><p>Lexa nodded in agreement with a serious expression, which softened immediately when the little girl within her lap noticeably perked up.</p><p>Marie turned her head just the slightest bit, trying to hear who was speaking to Lexa and identifying the person by the voice alone. She had not understood who Gustus had proclaimed earlier. When she recognized Anya out of the corner of her eyes, she finally turned around completely again, letting go of Lexa’s shirt and waving softly at the older woman, her expression still shy.</p><p>Her grey eyes widened a little when she looked closer at Anya. The general looked different than she had gotten to know her. Her face was smeared with some sort of dark paint and there was a weird looking sort of crown on her head. Marie spotted several weapons gleaming beneath the general’s long dark coat and the woman seemed to be wearing a weird kind of armour as well. The general had not looked like this while she had trained Tris or fought with Lexa and Marie internally wondered what was going on.</p><p>“<em>I will be expecting your report in a few hours” </em>Lexa finally reacted to the general’s original words. She had tried to think of a way which would not result in them having to slaughter all of the invaders. She feared how Marie would react once the little girl learned that they had killed the older children which had landed on earth together with her. She also thought that the older children might be able to offer them more knowledge than Marie could. But after the invaders had burnt down a village and abducted one of their own, torturing Lincoln, the decision had already been made. Lexa knew that her own people would not accept a peace between them on these conditions.</p><p>Anya inclined her head towards the brunette, holding her gaze for a short moment, before she gave the little girl a slight soft smile and turned on her heels without another word, leaving the tent.</p><p>Marie watched the general leave with obvious confusion on her face “Something w’ong?” she questioned, tilting her head to the side, peering up at Lexa curiously.</p><p>Lexa slightly shook her head “Nothing for you to worry about” she reassured the little girl in a firm tone, yet keeping her expression soft.</p><p>Marie continued to look at the commander for a moment, before she looked onto the table and noticed a plate with a few things she had already eaten since she had arrived at the grounder village.</p><p>Lexa’s lips tilted up into the hint of a smile when she noticed Marie’s features brightening up with delight. Alira had taken great care in making sure that the things which the little girl had enjoyed were now included on the plates which were delivered into the commander’s tent.</p><p>The girl seemed to wait for her approval to reach out and take some of the food though and just continued to stare at the food instead in silence, biting at her lower lip while she did so.</p><p>Lexa pulled the plate slightly closer to the edge of the table, so that the child should be able to reach it more easily. “You do not need my approval to eat here, Marie” she informed the girl, pointing to the plate once more.</p><p>Marie’s roundish cheeks pulled into a big smile, before she reached out and immediately grabbed a sweet honey cake.</p><p>Lexa rolled her eyes at the little girl starting breakfast with a sweet pastry instead of eating something healthy.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa spend the hours of the morning together with Marie within the commander’s tent. She tried teaching the little girl some of their language. If the child was to stay with her, then she needed Trigedasleng to communicate or she would never be able to fit in.</p><p>Marie tried to memorize as best as she could what Lexa was trying to teach her. She had great difficulties in trying to mimic the strong and harsh pronunciation of the foreign language, but she did recognize some similarities between the words in Trigedasleng and English.</p><p>After a light lunch, Lexa helped Marie dress into slightly warmer clothes and took her out of the commander’s tent and walked with her through TonDC in the direction of the meadow where the horses were kept.</p><p>Marie waited patiently in front of the enclosure for Lexa. The woman had left her there with the order to remain standing there while she went to get brushes to groom her dark mare.</p><p>The horse stood on the other side of fence, already pushing its enormous head towards her and sniffing noisily in her direction.</p><p>Marie smiled brightly at the mare, reaching up one of her hands. She had to stand on her toes to be able to just let the very tips of her fingers brush against the horse’s velvety nose. She giggled when the horse breathed out and its puff of breath tickled at her fingers.</p><p>Lexa appeared behind Marie only a few moments later, two brushes in her hand and Gustus following behind his leader.</p><p>Marie accepted one of the brushes silently. She made a slight squealing noise though when Gustus picked her up without forewarning and hoisted her over the fence into Lexa’s outstretched arms.</p><p>She was only able to reach the horse’s legs though and quickly lost the interest in brushing the horse.</p><p>So, Lexa passed over her brush to Gustus with a slight incline of her head, signalling the man to take her place instead. It was strictly spoken neither her nor Gustus’ task to groom her mare, but she wanted the little girl to spend some time outside of the commander’s tent and within the village and the girl clearly showed some affinity to the horses while she otherwise turned very shy with other people around.</p><p> She crouched down behind Marie, hoisting the little girl onto her hip, so that the child was perched up high enough to reach her mare’s back.</p><p>Marie smiled at the commander greatly before she twisted back towards the horse, letting the brush glide over its shiny fur.</p><p>“You need to put a little more force into it” the commander remarked after a few moments in a calm tone.</p><p>Marie had stopped in her movements, as soon as Lexa had begun to speak and she hesitated visibly for a second before she leaned over more strongly towards the horse and began brushing again with noticeably more strength.</p><p>Lexa inclined her head in mute acknowledgement at the child’s attempt to follow her order and adjusted her grip on her small body, securing her in place.</p><p>It became apparent very quickly though that Marie’s muscles began to tire out only after a very short amount of time.</p><p>So, Lexa let Marie down again and took the girl’s brush for herself. She watched the little girl trot over to a patch of flowers still standing intact on their side of the enclosure.</p><p>Marie bend down, carefully plucking a few of the flowers. From the flowers she had picked on the last evening to gift to Lexa, nothing had survived and Bellamy and Clarke had finally made her throw them away while they had fled from Anya and the others.</p><p>The flowers here were not as beautiful as those she had picked on the forest with Anya and Tris as there seemed to be fewer species available, but they were still beautiful.</p><p>Gustus watched the little girl walk over to the flowers and beginning to pluck them out one by one. He furrowed his brows, wondering why she was doing so.</p><p>Marie continued to pick up flowers until she had assorted a bouquet with a nice size. She turned back towards Lexa, a huge grin on her features and she skipped back over towards them.</p><p>Lexa turned towards Marie as well. </p><p>The little girl had told her last night about the bouquet she had wanted to gift to her and she had soothed her then that the wish to gift her something counted more already than the actual gift and only a few moments later, the child had fallen asleep for good.</p><p>Lexa could already see the child stumble before she fell. The bouquet had lost her grip and flowers fell all around her, before Marie had lost her balance. Lexa was not quick enough to catch her and Marie must have tried to balance herself, which only resulted in the little girl falling to the ground face first.</p><p>Lexa rushed to the little girl quickly, reaching out and pulling Marie back to her feet. Her green eyes widened when she immediately caught sight of an immense amount of blood on the child’s face.</p><p>Marie must have fallen right onto a rather rock on the meadow, the only one in sight actually. She felt pain radiating from her mouth and she felt blood on her tongue as well. When she pushed her tongue forwards and noticed that something was in her mouth, she tried to spit it out. Her slightly elated breathing turned erratic when she looked into her hand and beside blood, she spotted what appeared to be tooth within her fist.</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marie’s grey eyes were wide and the little girl appeared shell-shocked by what had happened. The little girl only really began to cry, once Lexa had scooped her into her arms and was already trying to sooth the blonde child.</p><p>Lexa quickly carried the girl away from the enclosure, not paying anyone who was watching her any mind, cradling Marie’s small body protectively within her arms, intending to have a healer take a look at her young charge immediately. She called back over her shoulder to Gustus who was briskly falling behind his leader to have Nyko send to the commander’s tent at once. The burly guard gave a curt nod and vanished from sight.</p><p>Marie was sniffling under her breath and had her little fists clutched into the material of the commander’s dark shirt.</p><p>Lexa slowly entangled the child’s hands from her clothing, sitting down on the edge of her bed together with the girl. She gently tilted the girl’s chin upwards, so that she could inspect the damage better. Some blood was still trickling down the girl’s chin and Lexa very carefully let a finger run over the girl’s pouty lips. During her fall, Marie must have split her upper lip, but it seemed that some of the blood was originated from inside her mouth as well.</p><p>Marie tried to back away from Lexa, when the woman felt along her mouth and she let out a slight high-pitched whine of protest.</p><p>Lexa let go of Marie’s chin when the flap to her tent was whisked open again and Nyko entered the commander’s tent. The healer seemed to be slightly out of breath, so Lexa assumed that Gustus must have hurried the other man.</p><p>The commander remained sitting behind Marie, keeping one hand steadily on the girl’s back, hoping to comfort her a little with the gesture.</p><p>Marie only very reluctantly kept sitting still when Nyko demanded of her to open her mouth as well and the man inspected her mouth as well.</p><p>It appeared that Marie had knocked out two of her upper front teeth during her fall and she had indeed split her upper lip as well.</p><p>Lexa frowned slightly when the healer told her that the child was missing two teeth and not just one. She had seen one tooth in the child’s bloody fingers, but the second one was apparently missing.</p><p>Marie’s still slightly shocked expression at what happened, turned horrified once she had gathered for herself what the healer had told Lexa.</p><p>She had not lost any teeth before, but she remembered well that she had wrongly thought before that one of her teeth was loose. She had told her mother about it, afraid at the prospect of losing a tooth and the woman had told her about the tooth fairy, telling her that children put their lost teeth under their pillows at night and that the tooth fairy switched it for a little treat during the night. How should she put her first lost teeth under her pillow now if she had swallowed one of it?</p><p>The girl’s expression turned a little sickly as she imagined the tooth wandering through her body. Could it harm her somehow? Surely a tooth was nothing to be eaten.</p><p>Nyko left a few herbs in the commander’s tent, one could be used to prepare a slightly numbing and disinfecting brew and the other herb could be crushed into a sort of paste to be put onto the child’s gums if she was experiencing stronger pain or if there seemed to be swelling setting in.</p><p>Even after the healer had left, Marie still appeared slightly shocked and the girl had not said a single word since Lexa had brought her into the commander’s tent.</p><p>A handmaid had brought some warm water to the tent and Lexa wetted a washcloth, gently dabbing at the girl’s chin and working her way upwards, cleaning away the traces of the blood from the girl’s fair skin.</p><p>“What is bothering you, little one?” Lexa asked in a kind tone, halting in her movements for a moment as her green eyes inspected the little girl, looking out for any changes in the girl’s expression.</p><p>“The tooth fai’y can’t not find my teeth now” Marie exclaimed finally after another moment of silence, grey eyes looking up expectantly at the commander and her mouth was pulled into a pout.</p><p>Lexa frowned at the blonde child. She was fairly certain that she had understood the child’s words, but she could not understand their meaning.</p><p>A handmaid had already prepared a mug of tea for Marie and Lexa collected it shortly from the table, blowing onto the surface carefully for a moment, before she handed it over to Marie, only letting go of the cup once she was sure that the girl had a strong grip on the cup.</p><p>Marie pulled a grimace at the bitter taste of the tea. She had seen that the handmaid had added some honey to it, but she had used much less than Alira did for her when the older woman prepared tea for her during breakfast and the tea had a weird bitter taste. In her thoughts, she was still mulling over what the loss of her tooth would mean for the tooth fairy.</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the explosion had detonated in the distance, Lexa had immediately sprung to action, standing up quickly, gathering a markedly confused Marie into her arms and hurrying them back towards TonDC. As the commander she needed to investigate what had happened to their warriors as soon as possible. If the invaders were able to retaliate in this kind of fashion, they might pose a much more serious threat than any of them had anticipated. </p><p>In the back of her mind, Lexa was also worried of the actions of the Mountain Men. It was highly unlikely that their greatest enemy had not taken notice of the invaders yet. She was actually fairly certain that the Mountain Men would be observing the invaders as well. Her own scouts had after all noticed increased activity of the Mountain Men since the invaders had fallen out of the sky.</p><p>Marie was visibly scared by what had happened and the girl appeared shocked, clinging to Lexa’s shirt with a tight grip and looking up at the woman with wide grey eyes.</p><p>Lexa tried to reassure the little blonde child that nothing would happen to her. She planned to leave Marie with Alira while she would lead reinforcement towards the site of the explosion. Marie would be safer in TonDC while she was gone and she could not additionally keep her eyes on the girl when they might be moving into a trap.</p><p>The way back to TonDC took Lexa and Gustus only a few minutes and just as the commander had expected, the villagers were in uproar. They had of course seen the explosion as well and they all knew that the camp of the invaders was in that direction. Many of the villagers had family among the troop Anya had lead towards the invaders.</p><p>Lexa quickly brought Marie into the commander’s tent, urging her softly to let go of her shirt, before she hurried to dress into her commander regalia.</p><p>Marie watched the woman dress into the armour which seemed typical only for Lexa’s position from the bed, feeling worry bubble in her mind. She knew that something was going on and Lexa had appeared taken off guard by whatever had caused the explosion as well. Marie had not seen Lexa worried before, so she knew that something was seriously wrong now and that was only increasing her own worry. She did not want Lexa to leave, but it was apparent that the woman did not wish to take her wherever she was heading to.</p><p>“I wanna come with you” she voiced in a tentative tone, just as Lexa fastened the long red sash to her shoulder guard. The whole piece made the woman appear so much bigger than she was and Marie was glad that she knew the woman to be nice or she would probably have been scared by her dress up.</p><p>Lexa hesitated, already in the process of leaving her tent. She had sent Gustus to summon Alira to her immediately. She gave the girl what she hoped to be a reassuring smile “No, little one” she answered in a firm tone, keeping only her gaze soft. She reached out with her gloved hand, letting her fingertips caress gently along the girl’s cheek for a moment, before she tucked a loosened strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “You will stay here with Alira” she added and the corners of her lips tilted up in the slightest hint of a smile when Marie immediately leaned into her soft caress.</p><p>She knew without the sliver of a doubt that many events would require her to leave Marie under the supervision of someone else in the future and she knew that she would only have a harder time of leaving the girl alone if she gave in now. Marie needed to learn that she could not be with her at all times during the day and that there were things she needed to do as the commander which were not safe for the little girl to accompany her.</p><p>Marie pulled a slight face at the resoluteness with which the woman’s voice rang. She did not know her well yet, but something instinctually told her that it was not the right time to try and argue with her now. So, she nodded her head, grey eyes filled with worry and sadness likewise.</p><p>Lexa squeezed the girl’s shoulder once, letting their gazes connect for a moment “I will return as swiftly as possible” she promised in a tone still tinted with graveness, before she abruptly turned from the bed, took up her sword and swept from the commander’s tent. Once she saw Alira approaching the tent, she gave the older handmaid a nod and left.</p><p> ~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie watched Lexa leave the tent with a slight lump in her throat. It did not feel good to see her walking away from her and being left alone.</p><p>For the slightest moment, the soft walls of the tent material turned into the shiny and cold metal walls of the holding cell in the Ark in which she had been the last days before she had been put into the dropship with the others. Marie felt her heart beat quicker as the memory morphed with the reality around her and instinctually she clutched the soft furs beneath herself with her fists, feeling the texture and the softness between her fingers, which felt so unlike the rather coarse blankets she had grown up with on the Ark.</p><p>She was distracted a few moments later, when the tent flap was opened again and Alira entered the commander’s tent with a friendly smile on her features.</p><p>“Hello, Marie” the handmaid greeted her in a kind tone.</p><p>Marie only waved back at the woman with a shy smile. She knew theoretically that the woman was nice, but she only really felt comfortable with Lexa or maybe with Anya as well.</p><p>Alira had already anticipated that the little girl might still be shy around her and to diffuse the tension, she had brought a little dice game with her which could keep Marie occupied until the commander returned. It would teach her the numbers to six in their language as well.</p><p>She was still relived though when the little girl was immediately interested in the game and she did not need to motivate her to participate.</p><p>Time passed rather quickly while they played the game together, but after a few rounds, Marie became noticeably bored with it and kept on glancing to the tent flaps, hoping for them to be pulled back once more and for Lexa to return.</p><p>Alira did not voice it, but she herself was starting to wonder what might be taking the commander so long.</p><p>“When’s Lexa coming back?” Marie asked after a few more minutes, speaking up for the first time when her words were not directly related to the game.</p><p>Alira sighed under her breath and slightly shook her head “I do not know, Marie, but probably very soon.”</p><p>Marie made what could pass as an agreeing humming sound, but continued to only look past the handmaid towards the entrance of the tent.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa was out of breath when she returned to the commander’s tent. Her body was tense and her mind was in turmoil. The explosion had indeed been caused by the invaders. She had briefly spoken to Anya, the general herself had thankfully not been harmed, but others had not been so lucky. The general’s young second seemed to have been gravely wounded as well and she had already brought along the bodies of the warriors they had lost. Mentally, she was already planning what needed to be done next.</p><p>“You back!” an almost unexpected loud exclamation from Marie, pulled Lexa out of her turmoiled mind.</p><p>Lexa felt some of the tension which had lingered within her body drain, the very moment she bend down to catch Marie who must have jumped from the bed to greet her. The relief which was so apparent within the child’s features at her return, made Lexa’s heart warm.</p><p>With a slight flash of remorse, Lexa remembered the last time that someone had awaited her return so passionately. It had been a few days before Costia had been captured and since then, Lexa had not been close to anyone on a personal level. She knew that Marie had no care for her position within their society and the almost instinctual pure love the girl held for her was an entirely new experience on its own for Lexa.</p><p>“Yes, I am back, little one” she retorted in an amused tone. Somehow, beside her red sash being in the way and the sword around her hip, Marie had still managed to wrap her legs around the commander’s waist and seemed entirely content in her perched-up position.</p><p>“Have you been good?” she asked only half serious, still throwing a curt glance towards Alira.</p><p>Marie giggled slightly at the question, showing the gap between her teeth, as she nodded her head in vehement agreement.</p><p>“I will bring dinner minutely" Alira offered, leaving the tent after a mute nod of agreement from the commander.</p><p>“What have you been up to while I was gone?” Lexa questioned Marie once they were alone again in the tent. She carried the girl back over to the bed, aware that the child was old enough to walk the distance herself, but still indulging her.</p><p>“We’ve played" Marie answered with a shine to her grey eyes. Alira had left the dice they had been using on the bed and Marie enthusiastically showed them to Lexa. The girl continued to proof that she now successfully was able to count to six in Trigedasleng.</p><p>Beside the grave situation outside of the commander’s tent, Lexa focused her mind entirely on Marie, listening to the child’s reconciliation of her afternoon with Alira. She corrected Marie in a gentle tone when the girl mixed up the order of the numbers and she complimented her on her pronunciation which was almost flawless at this point.</p><p>She even tested Marie’s ability to recount the numbers by giving the little game a few attempts and encouraged her each time she knew the number the dice showed.</p><p>Once Alira brought dinner to the commander’s tent, Lexa felt her mind return to her duties though. She knew that they would need to burn the pyres for their fallen warriors tonight.</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side slightly, noticing the obvious change within the woman. Lexa seemed to sit much straighter now and although she was still sitting physically close to her, she felt the distance between them. She did not know how to ask after what was wrong now though, so instead she just inched a little closer to Lexa, until she was sitting in touching distance.</p><p>Marie was a little surprised when the commander pulled her back into her lap mutely, but she sensed that she was not required to say anything to cheer the woman up. Instead, she just gave her an honest smile, before she leaned back against Lexa’s upper body, feeling her reassuring warmth engulf her senses.</p><p>The meal passed in silence between them, as Lexa’s mind was occupied with planning. It was obvious now that the invaders definitely were a powerful threat and the mistake of underestimating their resourcefulness had cost the lives of a few of their warriors. It was also apparent that the invaders were more similar to the Mountain Men than to their people, which just added to Lexa’s queasy feeling about them.</p><p>Only the fact that Lexa was trained to ignore the feeling in her body, let her eat. She knew that she needed to remain strong and a strong body required to be taken care of. She could not expect to keep her strength if she neglected herself.</p><p>Once their plates were empty, Lexa hoisted Marie from her lap, placing the girl on her own feet in front of her, so that she could look at her. “A few of our warriors have been killed by the explosion and the pyres to release their spirits will need to be lit soon” she explained in a calm tone what was about to happen to the blonde child staring up at her with alert grey eyes.</p><p>Marie nodded mutely in acknowledgement. She knew now what it meant to die and she had learnt about the believes of the grounders to burn the body of a dead person so that their spirit could be freed to be reborn.</p><p>Lexa regarded it as important that Marie was present and seen during the burning ceremony. She knew that hatred could easily be projected onto the little girl as well now and they needed to differentiate Marie from the rest of the invaders. The child was with them now and she wanted her treated as one of them. The children of the villagers would be present during the burning ceremony as well, as not attending was regarded as dishonourable.</p><p>Marie willingly followed the commander out of the tent a few moments later, holding onto one hand of the leader and dressed into a coat as well. The piece of clothing was too long for Marie’s built and the girl needed to be careful not to step onto the brim of the coat.</p><p>Lexa directly lead them towards the pyre. She sighed under her breath, she had been to an endless number of burning ceremonies and she knew that numerous more would follow until she herself would be lying on one of them.</p><p>Marie spotted Anya standing beside the pyre already and her features enlightened noticeably once she waved a greeting towards the woman. Her expression fell though, when she noticed how grim Anya looked.</p><p>Anya was barely able to lift one of the corners of her mouth in acknowledgement of the little girl. Tris was among the bodies on the pyre now. The girl from the invaders had not been able to safe her second and Lincoln had helped the two invaders they had captured escape. Mourning and rage bubbled through her mind likewise and her blood was screaming to get revenge on the invaders. She did notice though that the girl must have lost some of her front teeth today and she snorted slightly under her breath when the girl’s smile revealed the gap between her teeth fully.</p><p> </p><p>Marie could not understand what Lexa was saying now, but the woman was speaking so loudly that she must be addressing the whole crowd around them. She looked around with slightly wide eyes, the warriors who had been at the site of the explosion were all still wearing their armour and they frankly looked frightening. She was internally grateful that Lexa allowed her to continue to hold her hand. She knew that no one would move to hurt her as long as Lexa was there to protect her. The people obviously listened and obeyed Lexa. She had not understood fully just what role Lexa had, but it was more than obvious that the young woman was extremely powerful.</p><p>She only had to let go when Lexa was handed a burning torch and stepped closer to the pyre to light it up. Instinctually, Marie inched slightly closer to Anya, not feeling safe being left alone like that, although Lexa was still in sight.</p><p>Anya frowned down at the little girl for a moment, brown eyes confused as to why the child had moved so close to her; she was almost touching her leg by now and once their gazes met, Marie seemed to plead with her mutely. She sighed under her breath in exasperation, before she offered a hand to Marie. She had seen the girl holding onto Lexa before and she had frankly been confused why Lexa allowed Marie to be so close to her out in the public. It was one thing to be soft with the child in private, but showing openly how close they were, could be dangerous to her former second.</p><p>The smile Marie gave her in gratitude was so full of relieve, that Anya forgot her previous exasperation. Instead, she squeezed her small chubby hand once in mute reassurance.</p><p>Once Lexa stepped back to them, Marie immediately stretched out her other hand towards the commander, still holding onto Anya’s hand.</p><p>Lexa took hold of Marie’s hand with a slight smile, before she turned back towards the pyre, watching the flames slowly consume the bodies of their fallen warriors. She had not expected Anya to indulge the little girl like this, but she knew that she would need support in taking care of Marie if she wanted her to stay. Now that Anya had lost her second, nothing was keeping her away from the capitol anymore and Lexa toyed with the idea of asking her former mentor to return to her trusted circle from which she had personally banned her after Costia’s death.</p><p>Lexa was not surprised that Marie seemed to be almost sleeping on her feet once the pyre had burned down far enough that the more festive part of the burning ceremony was about to start. She decided that it would be alright for Marie to leave the ceremony now.</p><p>She quickly brought Marie back into the commander’s tent, helping the girl undress and redress into a sleeping shirt, before she put her into her own bed. Marie seemed to be asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and Lexa returned to the ceremony, keeping her tent under guard just to be save.</p><p>The ceremony continued late into the night and Lexa herself was physically and mentally exhausted once she finally returned to the commander’s tent as well.</p><p>She was in the process of undressing from the commander regalia when a weird shine caught her attention from the corner of her eyes. Lexa frowned and shook her head, wondering if the exhaustion was already playing tricks on her mind. It had seemed for a moment that Marie had been the source of the light, but once Lexa looked back to the bed, everything appeared normal once again and the girl was still sleeping peacefully.</p><p>Lexa sighed, chalking it up to her imagination playing tricks on her and she quickly blew out the remaining burning candles, knowing all too well just how soon the sun would rise and she would need to stand up again as well.</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once Marie woke up on the next morning, it took her a moment to realize that she was not alone in the bed. The mornings before, the commander had already been sitting at the table over a map or another document, but now, the woman was still lying next to her.</p><p>Light was already filtering through the fray material of the tent, so that Marie could inspect Lexa’s sleeping features more closely without being caught.</p><p>Marie slightly wiggled out under Lexa’s arm which had been slung over her body and turned onto her tummy next to Lexa, letting her gaze slowly wander from the woman’s wavy wild brown hair which was right now distributed freely across the pillow around herself, over the woman’s forehead, to her closed eyes and her lips, down to her chin. The woman looked much younger now and Marie internally wondered just how old Lexa actually was.</p><p>Once Marie looked back up again, she let out a surprised quacking noise when her gaze connected with Lexa’s suddenly opened piercing green eyes.</p><p>Lexa’s lips pulled into an amused smile at the child’s reaction. She reached out and put a strand of blonde hair behind the girl’s ear.</p><p>Marie’s smiled brightly at the woman, leaning into the slight caress.</p><p>Lexa frowned at the girl in confusion. Marie’s smile had revealed the gap within her teeth, where there had been a slight hint of an insetting inflammation yesterday, the girl’s gum looked completely fine now. Additionally, the girl’s lips did not show any signs of where she had busted it as well.</p><p>“Are you feeling well, little one?” she asked the girl in a concerned tone, trying to understand why there was no sign of any injury visible anymore.</p><p>Marie tilted her head the side slightly, not understanding why the commander seemed worried somehow. She nodded with a smile on her lips. She was not in any kind of pain anymore. Her lips did not feel swollen either. “But I’m hung’y” she exclaimed as her stomach gave a low rumble in agreement.</p><p>“Oh, we will certainly be able to help with that” Lexa answered with a smile “Let us get ready for the day then. The sooner we are ready, the sooner you can get something to eat”.</p><p>Marie nodded enthusiastically, scrambling to get up under the furs.</p><p>Lexa hurried to sit up as well, already internally predicting that the girl may tangle her legs between the furs and just fall from the bed in her admittedly clumsy eagerness.</p><p>Marie giggled under her breath when Lexa’s grip unexpectedly tickled her sides.</p><p>“You are ticklish?” Lexa echoed in mock surprise, but she refrained from tickling the child on purpose for now. She knew that it was already much later than she would usually get up and she was not sure why nobody had brought breakfast into the commander’s tent yet.</p><p>Once she had helped the little blonde girl to get down from the bed safely, Lexa got up as well.</p><p>To Lexa’s surprise, Anya entered the tent together with Alira sometime later, while Lexa was still in the process of helping Marie wash herself. She would have expected the general to remain on the training pits or mourn the recent loss of her second alone, but Anya’s voice sounded as calms as it could have as she proclaimed her own arrival loudly.</p><p>Marie’s features enlightened when she heard the general’s voice and before Lexa could make a grab for the young girl, Marie had already slipped past the curtain separating the bathing area from the rest of the tent, not even completely dressed yet and her hair still tangled and damp.</p><p>Lexa watched the child storm away, shaking her head with an amused smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, while she remained behind the curtain to put on her clothes first.</p><p>“Anya!” Marie exclaimed a tad bit too loud, running straight towards the general with a wide smile on her features and extending her arms towards the woman.</p><p>“Hello to you too, little one” Anya retorted, bending down to catch the girl before she could topple over “You could have gotten dressed before greeting me” she added with a slight smirk. Although she had come to the commander’s tent to try and convince Lexa to let her lead a bigger unit towards the invaders and she had felt tense with grief, the little girl managed to clear her mind in a blink.</p><p>Marie gave the general a wide smile, broadcasting the gap between her teeth, but she did let herself be distracted by Lexa who stepped up behind her with a shirt in her hand for the little girl.</p><p>“Lift your arms, little one” Lexa prompted the young child in a gentle tone.</p><p>“I will do her hair as well” Alira offered in a kind tone, placing the tray with breakfast onto the large table and waiting for the commander to sit down to weave her leader’s hair into her typical braids first.</p><p>Marie obediently lifted her arms, so that Lexa could slide the shirt over her body and the commander pulled on it until it sat right on her small frame. It was not the exact size the girl needed, but it would certainly do for now.</p><p>The little girl likewise pulled Lexa and Anya to the table, waiting for Lexa to sit down and trying to climb onto the commander’s lap as if that was her natural place now. The commander even slightly bent down and pulled the young girl up onto her knees, before she helped her by cutting a piece of meat for her.</p><p>Anya watched her previous second and the young girl interact without words and apparently still without any problems for a long moment. “I want to lead another unit against the invaders” Anya destroyed the peaceful moment abruptly, expression grim and her tone as sharp as ever.</p><p>Marie looked up at the general with wide grey eyes. She could imagine who the invaders were to whom Anya was referring to. She may not have liked many of the other 100, but she still felt weird hearing that there would be a war between them. She highly doubted that the 100 stood a real chance against an army of Lexa’s people; she had seen them train after all.</p><p>Lexa shook her head in the negative “Not yet” she wanted to wait until the surrounding villages had sent their warriors and they should be arriving within the next day or two. She also wanted to increase the patrols around the Mountain.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>After the breakfast, Anya had left the commander’s tent like a storm, annoyed by the fact that her young leader had denied her proposal and she wanted to fight off her frustration on the training pits.</p><p>Marie was visibly taken back by the general’s abrupt leave and her good mood seemed dampened by it as well.</p><p>Fortunately, Marie was almost ecstatic again, when Lexa proclaimed that she would be allowed to accompany the woman onto a patrol around the village. It sounded like it could be a little fun adventure.  </p><p>The girl was impatient to get out of the village once Lexa had broadcasted her plan. Although Lexa tried to brief Marie on what she needed her to do during their outing, it was painstakingly obvious that the blonde child barely listened at all.</p><p>Lexa contemplated if taking Marie with her on the patrol was really a good idea, but she had coordinated with Gustus to accompany them and three additional pair of warriors would leave the village with them in the same direction, so that they should be protected enough. Lexa did not truly anticipate to run into warriors from the Mountain.</p><p>She made sure that Marie was dressed accordingly and she tried to brief the child again in a sterner tone right before they were ready to leave “It is of utmost importance that you obey me without second thought out in the woods” Lexa said in a calm tone, crouching down to be on the same level as Marie “When I tell you to run, you run, and when I tell you to hide, you hide. Is that clear?”</p><p>Marie nodded obediently that she had understood, although she was internally confused as to why the commander was so serious all of a sudden, she was just eager to return to the woods. The woods had appeared so interesting and much more entertaining than just having to stay within the tent.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath, looking down at the overly excited girl critically, debating if she should just leave the girl in the safety of TonDC, but also not wanting to disappoint the child’s expectations.</p><p>“Can we go now?” Marie asked in a high-pitched tone, disrupting the commander’s internal debate.</p><p>Lexa nodded “We shall go now, but remember to listen to me” she added just to repeat her instructions.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa watched the child trail ahead of her with a little sigh. As soon as they had set foot outside of the village, Marie had let go of her hand and quickly went from one flower to another and if Marie was not inspecting flowers or plants, she tried to catch the leaves falling down from the trees.</p><p>Gustus who was mutely walking beside the commander had his eyes trained around them, barely giving the child more than a brief glance, it seemed that the commander only had eyes for her though.</p><p>Marie more than enjoyed herself. The forest was so exciting and she did not notice how quickly the time passed. She still felt full of energy and the soft breeze on her skin felt amazing. She only noticed after some time that her ankle had not started to even hurt a little bit and it made even more fun once Lexa truly joined her and they made a sort of little game of who would catch a leave quicker.</p><p>“You letting me win!” Marie accused the commander in an affronted tone, once she had caught the third leave in a row.</p><p>Lexa looked surprised for the flash of a second, not having expected the girl to catch on with what she was doing. They had already covered the way she had planned and she had made them turn around only a few moments ago. As they had not encountered anyone, Lexa let her guard down slightly and concentrated fully on the blonde little girl, aware of the fact that Gustus was with them and would protect them. “I may not perform to my full abilities" she agreed after a moment of silence.</p><p>Marie pouted at the commander “Don’t wanna be let win" in a whiny tone.</p><p>Lexa gave the girl a gentle look “I will refrain from letting you win then" she amended “Are you good at losing?” she added in a teasing tone and an almost mischievous twinkle within her green eyes.</p><p>Marie pursed her lips in thought for a moment. She actually had not really liked losing in a game. She had been in a sort of preschool class on the Ark and they had mostly played games there. The teacher had chided her, when she threw down the memory cards after losing. After the teacher had chided her though, she had never reacted badly to losing again.</p><p>“I guess so" she finally settled on as an answer to the woman’s question and her grey eyes quickly flicked back to the trees around them, settling her gaze on one particular leave which soared through the air in front of them.</p><p>Before Lexa could reach over the girl’s head towards the leave Marie had pointed out, there suddenly was an unexpected booming loud noise and the next thing Lexa realized was that Gustus had pushed her out of the way and she felt a blooming pain radiate from her left shoulder.</p><p>Marie let out a startled screech at the loud booming noise and she suddenly was pushed down to the ground, scraping her hands and knees in the process.</p><p>She could not fully see and grasp what was happening around her. Everything suddenly seemed to happen way too quickly. Several warriors seemed to appear out of nowhere and more booming noises resonated around them. Marie startled strongly with each one of them and the hair on her neck stood up as a shiver ran through her frame at hearing what would probably be called a war cry coming from the warriors from TonDC.</p><p>While the fight around her seemed to go on quicker than she could truly watch, time seemed to almost stand still between her and Lexa. Her grey eyes widened once she watched Lexa apparently a little dazed, reaching one hand to her own shoulder and her fingers came back visibly coated in thick black blood.</p><p>The commander was hurt. Marie needed another moment to connect that the noises around them were gunshots and she wondered for a moment if the other 100 could be attacking them.</p><p>Marie crawled over to Lexa, feeling her heart beat faster within her chest as her eyes constantly switched back and forth between the commander’s eyes and her bleeding shoulder and occasionally to the fight going on around them.</p><p>Once she looked up again, she noticed that the warriors seemed to have nearly won against their opponents. Their opponents did not really appear to be human though, they had the shape of a human, but they seemed covered from head to toe in a strange suit. She remembered seeing a similar thing on the Ark.</p><p>Her attention returned to Lexa though. The commander had promised to protect her, but now she was hurt. What if the woman stopped breathing as well?</p><p>“Everything is alright, little one” Lexa tried to reassure the clearly worried child in a calm tone, blocking out the pain from her wound as well as possible.</p><p>“You cannot stop b'eathing as well" Marie exclaimed in a panicked tone.</p><p>Lexa reached out towards the child, biting down a pained groan, not wanting to worry the girl further. She had been hurt before and she would survive this. Her warriors had the situation well covered and she felt anger bubble within her mind. The Mountain Men rarely moved this far away from their hideout and she had exposed Marie to unnecessary danger by taking her into the woods with her. She needed to bring her back to TonDC, increase the patrols around the Mountain, organize the troops which would attack the invaders and see a healer.</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Trying to calm Marie down on the way back to TonDC proved much harder than Lexa had anticipated. It was obvious that the girl was shocked by what had happened and she continued to almost chant that Lexa could not die as well. It pained her to see the little girl so distraught.</p><p>Additionally, they had to be vigilant that they did not run into another patrol of the Mountain. Their guns gave the Mountain Men an unfair advantage and Lexa knew that she had all in all been lucky not to have been wounded mortally by their bullet. The shot had been fired before any of their warriors had noticed the presence of the Mountain Men after all.</p><p>Lexa internally hoped that she had not sustained permanent damage by the bullet. She was used to fighting with two swords simultaneously and her fighting technique gave her the advantage she needed to outbalance the fact that she was physically smaller and lighter than most of her opponents so far.</p><p>They were moving faster through the forest now than Marie could keep up with. Lexa tried to keep the girl within her arms without putting any strain onto her left arm. The pain was blooming from her shoulder through the complete side of her left body by now and Lexa knew all too well that it would only get worse once the rush of danger wore out.</p><p>She tried to bite back another pained groan, when she had to make a slight jump over the fallen trunk of a tree, but she still saw the alarm pass through the girl’s almost dazed grey eyes. Lexa was surprised though, when Gustus stepped closer to her.</p><p>The expression on the burly man’s face portrayed at a least a fraction of the child’s worry, as her offered to take the girl for his young leader, wanting to relieve her of the additional weight, which made it harder for her to move right now.</p><p>Marie did not seem really happy with the prospect though and Lexa felt her little fingers hold onto her shirt tighter, pushing the fabric firmer into the wounded area.</p><p>Lexa tried to adjust her grip on Marie, so that she could place her left hand on the girl’s back, holding onto her more tightly. She knew that TonDC was not far away now and that she could continue to hold Marie’s weight additionally. She gave Gustus a subtle shake of her head and the man backed away slightly with a frown on his face, but Lexa paid him no further mind.</p><p>“It’s alright, little one" she tried to sooth the scared girl “I have you” she added as a further reassurance, banning all signs of pain from her features for now.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya heard about the arrival of the commander before she saw the small group of warriors. Word travelled fast among the warriors and she wiped away the sweat from her forehead just as she heard the quick order to send a healer to the commander’s tent for their leader.</p><p>She quickly made her way towards Lexa’s tent as well, awaiting her former seconds arrival, hoping that the young leader had not been wounded gravely. The clans just had found a shacky peace with each other under Lexa’s reign and that would never hold if the commander fell now. She had helped to shape the young woman into the leader she was now and she did not wish to have to witness her fall. She also knew that the commander had taken the little blonde child with her and she could guess that the girl would need to be occupied for the healer to efficiently be able to work with Lexa.</p><p>She waited in front of the commander’s tent, not for the first time waiting for her former second to be patched back together, only now she did not know the magnitude of Lexa’s wounds.</p><p>Anya watched the commander nearing her tent with the child held to her chest. She frowned slightly at the sight, she had almost expected that it would be Lexa who would need to be carried to the tent and she internally relaxed a fraction. If Lexa was still able to walk, she was surely not gravely wounded.</p><p>She already held the tent’s flap open for them to enter, seeing a healer hurry towards the tent as well from the other direction. She could still detect the little hints of pain and tension within Lexa’s features when the commander finally entered the tent.</p><p>Anya listened to Lexa trying to urge Marie to finally let go of her shirt with a deepened frown, wondering if the girl had gotten hurt as well.</p><p>“Little one, we are safe now and you need to let go now” Lexa tried to convince the blonde child with slowly thinning patience. She saw the healer hover behind them indecisively, unsure of what to do.</p><p>Marie hesitated before she finally did weaken her grasp on Lexa’s shirt, she still did not fully want to lose contact to the woman and her expression fell completely, when Anya reached out towards her, pulling her slightly away from Lexa and holding onto her.</p><p>“It’s alright, little one” Lexa assured Marie, giving one of her chubby hands a slight squeeze, before she turned her attention towards the healer, assured that Anya would take care of Marie for now.</p><p> Anya tried to catch the girl’s attention now, trying gently to turn the child into her direction, so that she could check her over as well. Marie was clearly reluctant to tear her gaze from Lexa.</p><p>“Marie, the healer will take care of Lexa now” Anya tried to reason with the girl in a calm tone, stepping in between Marie and the bed, when the child did still pay her no mind.</p><p>Marie pouted at the general, trying to look past her legs and to the bed and what was going on with Lexa.</p><p>“Enough now” Anya chided her in a sharper tone, noticing that Marie’s hands seemed scrapped open at a few places and were clearly dirty “We will get you cleaned up now” she added with finality, giving the girl a slight push towards a basin with fresh water.</p><p>Marie looked at her for a moment, grey eyes huge and pleading, but Anya did not budge the slightest bit, staring down at the child with piercing brown eyes.</p><p>Anya watched the girl with a raised brow. It was obvious that she was just rushing to get her finger cleaned, to return to Lexa’s side. She rolled her eyes at the girl and stood directly in front of her way “I can see from here, that your fingers are anything but clean” she remarked in a strict tone, giving the girl a non-impressed look.</p><p>Marie pouted at the general, but she obediently turned back to the wash basin and tried to get all the strains from her fingers. It smarted slightly where she had chaffed off the skin of her fingers, but she forgot all about cleaning her fingers, when she heard Lexa hiss and mumble something under her breath, probably a swearing she did not understand yet.</p><p>Anya had turned back towards the commander’s bed as well and her brows furrowed when she recognized that Lexa must have been wounded by a gun “<em>The invaders?” </em>she spoke the question into the tent without any direct address.</p><p>Lexa shook her head, clearly clenching her jaw together as the healer was trying to close the hole the bullet had left within her shoulder. “<em>Mountain Men</em>” she bit out through clenched teeth, reigning in another course.</p><p>Anya sighed under her breath, the last thing they needed was to lead a war at two fronts now. She thought that this could hopefully prompt Lexa though to let her lead another unit against the invaders before the Mountain could make another move as well.</p><p>The location of the wound on Lexa’s body made worry bloom within her mind though. Anya knew that a commander needed to be physically strong. Their healers also had little experience with wounds caused by bullets.</p><p>Anya managed to hold Marie back though, when the child clearly meant to rush to the bed. She wondered what Marie had intended to do though.</p><p>“It is okay, Anya” Lexa addressed the general directly. She had noticed Marie’s expression when the woman had physically held her back. She reached out with her right hand towards Marie, inviting the child over. She was internally touched that the girl clearly wanted to be there for her now.</p><p>Marie seemed to throw a slightly accusative gaze over her shoulder at Anya, before she rushed over to Lexa, immediately grasping onto the commander’s offered hand. Her grey eyes were big and empathic as she searched Lexa’s face and she seemed to react with a wince to each hiss that Lexa did not manage to bite back.</p><p>Marie watched the healer patch the commander back together with wide eyes. Although Lexa had assured her, that she was not hurt seriously, she still feared that the woman could die as well. What if Lexa was not telling her the truth?</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa breathed out a sigh of relieve once the healer put a bandage around her torso and gave her a tea against the pain still coursing strongly through the left side of her body.</p><p>Marie still seemed worried and was watching her every move. Anya was the only one who had remained within the tent with them.</p><p>“Little one, I am fine” Lexa tried to reassure the girl in an honest tone “and you can let go again” she added with an amused smile as the girl still was vehemently holding onto her hand.</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side, her grey eyes switching between the bandage on the woman’s torso and the commander’s green eyes “But what if you stop b’eathing…” she exclaimed in a shaky tone.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath “I will not die from this wound, little one” she tried once again repeat what she had been saying for what felt like a long time now.</p><p>“You can’t not…” Marie did not even seem to have heard that Lexa had said anything at all.</p><p>Lexa opened her mouth to retort once again, that she would not die, when the child’s expression suddenly changed drastically and the girl seemed to be looking right through her for a second, before she abruptly felt a blinding pain radiate from the wounded area on her shoulder. Her sight was nearly blinded as well by a sudden bright light, which seemed to come from Marie’s hands, which were still holding onto her right hand.</p><p>Anya watched the scene in front of her with wide disbelieving eyes. She blinked a few times, taking in the light which seemed to emit from Marie’s hand. The girl had not held anything which could burn and the light was different from the red light of a burning flame.</p><p>Once Lexa could truly see again, as the light seemed to have disappeared, she noticed that the pain had completely faded by now. It had nearly knocked the breath out of her only a moment ago and now she did not feel any pain anymore, neither did she feel the slight exhaustion from the short night.</p><p>“Marie, how have you done this?” Lexa asked the girl in confusion.</p><p>Marie blinked at Lexa for a moment, as if she was just waking from a daze, letting go of Lexa’s hand and she noticed that Anya had stepped closer to the bed as well, looking down at her with a weird expression.</p><p>Lexa reached to her shoulder cautiously, but she truly felt nothing. She furrowed her brow in bewilderment. She could still feel a bit of dried blood beneath the bandage, but as she took it off, there was absolutely no sign of the hole from the bullet at all anymore.</p><p>Marie felt weird somehow, although she did not understand what had happened. It had felt to her as if a few moments were missing, although she was not even sure where this feeling came from. Her body tingled weirdly and she felt a little queasy.</p><p>“It is healed…” Anya had leaned down over Marie and was inspecting Lexa’s shoulder with a puzzled expression. She stepped behind Lexa, crouching down as well, to look at Marie. Although she had seen what happened, she did not understand it one bit.</p><p>“You have healed me, little one” Lexa repeated what Anya had just proclaimed “How have you done it?”</p><p>“Can you do it again?”</p><p>“Do you know if others have such a talent on your Ark?”</p><p>“Are you feeling well?”</p><p>“Has the healing been a painful experience to the others as well?”</p><p>“Why can you do this?”</p><p>“Have you done it before?”</p><p>Lexa and Anya bombarded the child with questions, not even giving her the slightest bit of a chance to answer even one question and not noticing how every further question had made Marie shrink into herself. Halfway through the rapid questions, the girl had begun to breathe quicker and once Lexa had asked the last question, tears were rolling down Marie’s cheeks.</p><p>Lexa and Anya exchanged an alarmed gaze, both had not noticed how overwhelmed the child truly was with the situation.</p><p>“Ssh, little one” Lexa tried to sooth the girl.</p><p>“We will figure this all out later” Anya made an attempt to calm the child as well “It is alright, there is no reason to cry now”.</p><p>Lexa reached out and wiped away a few tears from the girl’s cheeks, but Marie’s eyes continued to dart back and forth between the two of them, clearly unsettled by everything. She finally pulled the girl into a hug, hushing to her and she felt guilty that they had bombarded the girl with so many questions.</p><p>Marie’s thoughts were rushing through her mind and she was still feeling slightly sick. She did not like the way Lexa and Anya had looked at her in alarm, as if she had done something dangerous, but she could not remember doing anything.</p><p>No matter how Lexa tried to sooth Marie, the child continued to cry, beginning to slowly quiet down in the comforting warmth of Lexa’s embrace, until she had fallen asleep within the commander’s arms. Lexa continued to hold onto her for long moments further, as silence settled between them, as Marie’s weeping had evened out into soft breathing.</p><p>Lexa’s expression turned soft, when she slowly tried to ease Marie’s sleeping form out of her arms and down onto the bed and she noticed that Marie had been sucking on her thumb while falling asleep. She gently wiped the residual tears from the girl’s pale roundish cheeks.</p><p>Anya had sat down at a table, looking over at the bed, obviously deep in thought. She was wondering if someone could know more about this strange healing talent the child must be possessing, but she could not remember ever hearing about such a thing before.</p><p>Lexa remained sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at the sleeping child, as she continued to caress over the girl’s cheeks gently.</p><p>“I have never heard of such a thing” Anya broke the silence after long moments.</p><p>Lexa finally stopped looking down at Marie and looked over at her former mentor instead, still keeping up physical contact to the girl though. She shook her head “Neither have I” she retorted simply. She had tried to remember if she had ever read a reference to such a thing but the only thing which could come even remotely close, were fairytales.</p><p>“Do you think that she did this before?” Anya asked after another pause.</p><p>Lexa already wanted to reply, when she took a closer look at the girl. She carefully turned over the girl’s palm and there was no sign of any scraps anymore. She remembered the shining light she had thought to see after the burning ceremony. “I am not sure” Lexa finally answered “but I don’t think that she’s doing it consciously” she added in a thoughtful ton.</p><p>Anya’s brows furrowed “You mean she does not have control over it?”.</p><p>Lexa told her former mentor about what had happened after the burning ceremony and when Anya moved back over to the bed, she pointed out that the child’s hands looked completely fine again and how there was no sign of her split lip either.  </p><p>Anya took a moment to process the new piece of information, mulling it over internally “Do you think someone could know more about this?” her tone was vague.</p><p>Lexa slightly shook her head “I do not know, but…” she trailed off with a slight sigh.</p><p>“You fear for her safety” Anya ascertained and her gaze remained on the commander’s hand still gently caressing the child’s cheek. The connection between them was palpable.</p><p>Lexa nodded in agreement “Such a talent if controlled somehow, will make her a target” she said. She had already feared that the connection to her own person might be putting the girl into a precarious position in the future and this would only add to it.</p><p>“It certainly cannot become public” Anya agreed as silence settled between them again. It would probably get complicated to keep such a big secret and especially for a child that young, but she would do all she could to protect Marie, she knew that Lexa would die trying to protect her, so she would be helping.</p><p>Lexa offered to the general to stay within the commander’s tent for the night, but she was not too surprised when Anya declined, saying that she would return in the morning with breakfast.</p><p>“Rest with her” Anya said as a farewell “We will figure this all out … together”.</p><p>Lexa nodded with the hint of a smile as she watched her former mentor leave. She remained sitting on the edge of the bed for a long time. She was not feeling tired and her mind was turmoiled. She could never have imagined that such a young girl could change her life so much in such a short time.</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 26</p><p>Lexa had been deep in thought for most of the night, finding little sleep at all. She only drifted off some time before the sun rose.</p><p>So, once the little girl shifting next to her, finally woke her, Lexa still felt tired and all of the endless thoughts had given her a headache.</p><p>She had not been able to come up with a logical explanation as to what had happened yesterday. While she had been mussing over the events, the little blonde child had been sleeping peacefully. Once she had joined Marie in the bed, the girl seemed to have woken to some degree and almost instinctually had crawled her way onto the commander’s chest, settling there with her thumb still between her pouty lips. She had only put her arms around the girl, keeping hold of her gently, feeling the echo of her little heart beating faintly against her own chest and it had seemed for a moment as if their hearts had been beating in sync.</p><p>Lexa had softly caressed over the girl’s back, soothing her once again into a deeper sleep.</p><p>Although she had not been able to understand what really had happened, Lexa was firm in her internal decision that the child needed her protection now more than ever. If this weird talent of her became public, the child would be sought out in the thirst of power by the other leaders and she did not wish to imagine what would happen to the innocent girl then.</p><p>She did not know what fates had brought them together, but somehow the little girl seemed to her like a personal gift from the stars, fulfilling a deep longing, even she had not been consciously aware of. Lexa internally wondered if Costia could have somehow sent her the innocent child, but it did not really matter. She was thankful for having Marie within her life now and she knew that her own life would certainly be a little more complicated from now on, but she was convinced that it was worth it.</p><p>Lexa finally opened her eyes, when the child’s shifting became more prominent and she was not sure yet if Marie had woken up or might be falling into troubled sleep. It turned out that the girl was awake and confused grey eyes looked up at her, when Lexa looked down.</p><p>Lexa gave the girl a soft smile, internally hoping that Marie was not upset still from last night. “Good morning, little one” she greeted the child in a gentle tone, finally breaking the silence between them.</p><p>Marie who had just mutely been staring at the commander for long moments, blinked once, before she smiled brightly as well, broadcasting the gap between her teeth “You ‘live” she proclaimed in a clearly relived tone.</p><p>Lexa carefully nodded, inspecting the child quickly. She had been confident that their healers would have been able to make her survive the gunshot wound, but she knew that the possibility of lasting damage to her shoulder had been very real.</p><p>The little girl had once again crawled on top of her and hugged her around her neck enthusiastically. Lexa let the girl be with an amused smile for a moment, but she knew that it would not be long before she would be needed outside.</p><p>“We need to get up, little one” Lexa said after a long silent moment of simply letting the girl lie on her chest.</p><p>Marie made a little noise of protest and hugged the woman’s neck a little tighter. She did not want to get up. She wanted to stay in bed with Lexa; they were safe here after all.</p><p>Lexa chuckled slightly under her breath. She wished that she could indulge the child and let her sleep, but she knew that she would be needed soon. Her warriors would be eagerly awaiting her orders to finally destroy the invaders.</p><p>“You can remain in bed for now if you are not feeling well, little one" Lexa proclaimed after a moment of contemplation. She had no idea what healing her wound could mean to Marie’s health and she was internally afraid that there would be repercussions for the little girl.</p><p>Marie pouted at the woman. She wanted to stay in bed together and not alone. But her protest was cut off, when Anya entered the tent in that very moment.</p><p>Marie startled visibly at the unexpected arrival and her first instinct had been to hide from whoever had entered the tent. So, she borrowed herself firmer against the commander’s chest, mutely seeking protection.</p><p>Lexa was alarmed by the girl’s seemingly frightened reaction. They had been unable to effectively sooth the girl last night and she was internally worried that the child had lost at least some trust in them.</p><p>Anya did appear nonplussed by Marie’s reaction as well and the general remained standing rooted to the spot a slight distance away from the bed, staring down at Lexa and Marie in confusion for a moment, before guilt visibly flashed over her features. She knew that she had not been uninvolved in scaring the little girl last night after all.</p><p>“Little one, it is only Anya” Lexa tried to sooth the child in a soft tone, gently caressing over her back.</p><p>Marie needed a few moments to finally lift her head from the commander’s chest again, but she still continued to hold onto Lexa’s shirt as she tentatively looked up at Anya with unsure grey eyes.</p><p>The general tried to give the child a slight smile as well, although her mind was in turmoil. The sight her former second and the little blonde girl gave was heart-warming and there was an innocence within Marie’s grey eyes which their own children had already lost at the same age. But she knew, that it would not matter how sweet and soft the child may be if her healing abilities became public.</p><p>During the night, she had tried to remember fervently if she had ever heard anything about such an ability before and a few hours into the night, she had finally remembered that she had heard some form of distinct tale from elders in the Desert Nation.</p><p><em>“I have heard a tale about such an unbelievable talent in the Desert Nation” </em>Anya addressed only Lexa now, thinking that it may be best to leave Marie out of the loop of that conversation.</p><p>Lexa’s relaxed state immediately melted away and was replaced with a mixture of alarm and disbelieve. She was fairly certain that she would have heard about it as well, if this tale was really well known.</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side, as her eyes darted back and forth between Lexa and Anya confusedly. She had not understood much from what the general had just said and both of them very rarely spoke Trigedasleng around her, so, she was naturally curious now due to the change in language.</p><p>“Alright, time to get up now, little one” Lexa distracted the girl, before Marie could even open her mouth to ask for a translation. She knew that Marie would need to know as much about her talent as possible, but after last night, she did not wish to unnecessarily worry the child and she knew how much of a burden something like this could be to a child.</p><p>Marie frowned for a second, but she would obey the commander’s words.</p><p>Lexa sat up, keeping gentle hold of the girl still lying on her chest and hoisting the girl’s over the edge of the bed and placing her on her feed, before she inclined her head towards the bathing area of the tent, mutely signalling Marie to go ahead and wash herself. Although the girl made an unbelievable mess by the simple task of washing herself, but Marie had been adamant that she could wash herself and it would keep the girl occupied for a moment.</p><p><em>“I cannot remember the details any longer”</em> Anya continued once the child had vanished out of view behind the thin curtain “<em>Has she shown any side effects?”</em> she added a second later. The girl had outwardly appeared alright, but she could still have some side effects of her talent.</p><p>Lexa shook her head in the negative. The child had slept peacefully through the night and she had not appeared sick either. “<em>If you remember where exactly or even who has told you this … tale … I can send out someone to investigate discretely”.</em></p><p>Anya’s lips pressed together in a displeased thin line <em>“I do not remember” </em>she admittedly in a clearly displeased tone. She had continued to try and access the particular memory, but it had remained ominous.</p><p>Lexa pinched the bridge of her nose in rising frustration. She had also thought about randomly sending missionaries into the other clans and trying to find out if there was some knowledge about unusual abilities. But she also knew, that such a move would in fact just increase the likelihood of a clever mind catching on that she was hiding something, which would only further put the child into danger.</p><p>Her internal musing was cut short, when she caught the child standing in front of the curtain uncertainly. Marie was holding onto the curtain with one chubby fist, gnawing slightly on her plump lower lip and fidgeting in place as she was staring at them in utter silence.</p><p>Lexa smiled at the little girl, pushing her worried thoughts as fast away as possible to focus her attention fully on Marie for now.</p><p>Marie was still dressed in the oversized shirt, she had been given to sleep in, and her feet were bare. Water droplets still glistened on the child’s roundish cheeks and the shirt bore more than just one splash of water on its front, showing just how sloppily the girl must have used the water again to wash herself.</p><p>“We should do something about your hair, little one” Lexa assessed with an amused smile. The girl must have tried to comb it somehow, but had obviously forgotten that there had been braids in them. It looked as if she had tried to fix her mistake and just tangled up everything instead.</p><p>Marie pouted slightly; she had hoped that Lexa would not notice. Alira had told her to leave her hair alone, but she had wanted to try herself and she could feel that she had just made a mess out of it. She still reached out towards Lexa’s offered hand and let herself be led to a chair, sitting down obediently, without saying a single peep. She remembered now that both women had bombarded her with questions and she remembered how scared and confused she had felt. She did not want a repetition of this situation and everything which had happened before that was still weirdly hazy in her mind.</p><p>“I have got something for you” Anya proclaimed in a light tone, stepping in front of Marie and crouching down to be on the same level with the child, before she reached into a pocket of her coat and pulled out her present.</p><p>Marie’s grey eyes lost their residual caution and confusion and now shone with joy, as she recognized a sort of toy in the general’s hands. “You got me a plushie!” she squealed excitedly, nearly jumping up and down on the chair in ecstasy.</p><p>Lexa raised a brow at her former mentor, taking a little step back from the child. Now that Marie was moving around so nervously, it was impossible to comb her hair out for now. “Why don’t you take it?” she questioned the child with an amused smile. Although Marie was clearly overjoyed with the present, she had not reached out to make a grab for it. She was internally a little confused though as to why Anya had brought this toy; the general had not been a fan of games and toys when she had resided with her.</p><p>Marie threw a slightly startled glance over her shoulder for a second, before her grey eyes returned to the toy within Anya’s hand and she tentatively reached out.</p><p>“It does not bite” Anya assured the child half seriously, as she held it closer to Marie.</p><p>Marie finally closed her fingers around the toy, feeling its soft texture with an amazed expression on her roundish features “It’s soooooo soft” she exclaimed in a high-pitched tone.</p><p>“All right, sit still for a moment now, little one” Lexa gently tapped on the child’s shoulders to prompt her to sit down again “You can inspect it while sitting as well”.</p><p>“It’s wolf” Marie retorted in an informative tone.</p><p>Anya was confused at the seemingly out of the blue words and connected her gaze with Lexa’s, but the younger woman appeared as confused as she felt.</p><p>Marie noticed the open question on the general’s face and she held up the plushie towards the woman in explanation “Wolf” she exclaimed again.</p><p>“Yes” Anya agreed in a cautious tone “It is indeed a wolf” she added slowly, still not understanding exactly what the girl meant.</p><p>“No” Marie retorted with a slight shake of her head, prompting Lexa to huff under her breath at being interrupted again “It’s name’s Wolf” she explained, holding up the toy for another moment, before she cradled it to her chest.</p><p>Anya snorted under her breath, biting back a laugh at the girl’s serious expression. If she wanted to name the toy with something, she could have at least chosen a name, but she would not lecture the girl on that now. “And a very fine one Wolf is” she agreed, humouring the child gently.</p><p>Marie smiled brighter again, remembering in the last second not to nod in agreement now.</p><p>Lexa finally had combed out the last stubborn out of the child’s blonde locks. She had no idea how Marie had even managed to tangle them up like that in such a short time, but everything was in order again now.</p><p>“I will call for breakfast” Anya offered in that moment.</p><p>Lexa gave her former mentor a slight nod in agreement, before she stepped away from the table. She quickly washed herself, before she returned. Marie was still sitting on the stool and she seemed to be speaking softly to her new toy, too low though, for Lexa to pick up any words.</p><p>“Time to get dressed, little one” she proclaimed softly, after having watched the girl with her toy in silence for a long moment.</p><p>Marie nodded immediately, jumping down from the stool a little too enthusiastically and Lexa was glad that she was standing close enough, that she just needed to quickly reach out and steady the little girl as she was clearly losing her balance.</p><p>“Ops” Marie exclaimed with an innocent smile.</p><p>Lexa slightly shook her head in amusement at the girl.</p><p>“Can I d’ess like you?” Marie asked excitedly as an idea sprung through her mind.</p><p>Lexa furrowed her brow “You mean in clothes like mine?” she checked just to make sure that she had gotten Marie’s question correct. When the girl immediately nodded with a hopeful smile, Lexa sighed under her breath. She knew that she should not let Marie play around like that, but as the girl’s smile faltered, Lexa felt her resistance melt away and she asked “What did you have in mind, little mind?” as an offer and as Marie’s features lightened up again, she quickly added a restriction “And only within this tent”.</p><p>Marie nodded along, not caring about the restriction. She knew that she would not fit into the actual armour, but she was fascinated with the red cape and the one glove. “The ‘ed cape and you’ glove” she proclaimed chirpily, looking up at the commander with shining grey eyes.</p><p>Lexa chuckled under her breath “It is called a “sash”, little one, not a cape” she corrected the girl gently. She knew that Titus would likely have a stroke, if he ever saw Marie wearing the regalia of the commander, but she was certain that there was no damage in letting the child have what she wanted in the privacy of their tent.</p><p>So, a few minutes later, when Anya returned to the commander’s tent with a tray laden fully with breakfast for all of them, Lexa was already sitting at the table.</p><p>Marie was sitting on the commander’s lap, wrapped up in the commander’s red sash. With one arm she had Wolf cradled to her chest and she was moving the other hand in front of her face in clear amazement. Lexa’s glove was clearly way too big in size for the child’s small hands, but Marie was obviously completely fascinated with the metal imitating the bones and she continued to move her hand around, letting the light catch on the shiny metal.</p><p>Anya looked dumbfounded at the sight which had greeted her, but she did not voice her internal protest. She had been involved deep enough in Lexa’s upbringing to know very well, that what her former second was letting the girl do right now, would be considered almost as blasphemy by the flamekeepers. But she also had to agree that the child looked even cuter in her dress up, sitting on Lexa’s lap with the toy in her arms.</p><p>As she placed the tray with breakfast onto the table, Anya was internally astonished of the apparent change within Lexa. She had not seen the young leader as relaxed and almost carefree as she appeared now. Her green eyes were shining with a newfound determination and although she knew that the addition of Marie in Lexa’s life would not make the commander’s life any easier or safer, the child’s presence was obviously already having a huge impact on Lexa and she was glad for it.</p><p>“Now I’m comma’de” Marie proclaimed in her childish tone, sitting up the slightest bit straighter, as she smiled up at Anya innocently.</p><p>“And what a great commander you will be” Anya agreed good-naturedly.</p><p>Lexa just slightly tightened her arm around the child’s midriff. Both of them knew, that Marie would never be commander and it was not something she would wish upon the sweet girl. No, she wanted her to remain a child, something she herself had never been allowed to be.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 27</p><p>Anya was not really surprised when Marie was more than reluctant to hand over the red sash and the commander’s glove to Lexa. The child had clearly enjoyed herself before and in fact, the little blonde girl looked at Lexa with huge innocent eyes, with her lower lip trembling precariously, as if she could burst into tears any moment. </p><p>Lexa needed a few moments to reason with the young girl, that this had been part of their agreement and that Marie could not leave the tent while wearing part of the commander’s regalia. She did promise though that they would see about getting Marie her first own armour once they could return to the capitol. </p><p>Marie was ecstatic about the prospect, although she did not know for what she would be needing armour. But she knew that she would be looking more like Lexa and Anya then. </p><p>Anya had suddenly left them, while Lexa was still getting Marie ready to go out of the tent. </p><p>Once Marie was dressed in her own clothes, she stepped out of the tent, holding onto one of Lexa’s hands and cradling the wolf plushie to her chest with her other arm. </p><p>The villagers of TonDC had by now almost gotten used to the sight of the little blonde girl being close to their leader. The warriors who had come to TonDC as reinforcement on the other hand were clearly nonplussed by the sight. </p><p>Lexa did not show any reaction to their stares though, keeping a straight face as she walked through the village with Marie. </p><p>She led Marie to the centre of the village, where she spoke to Indra, Anya and Tristan, coordinating the second attack on the invaders.</p><p>Anya was obviously not impressed by her order that Tristan would lead the second attack. The older woman had clenched her jaw the whole time. The only times her deep brown eyes had softened a fraction, was as her gaze fell to Marie.</p><p>The child had remained still absolutely obediently, clutching her new toy to her chest in silence, just listening to the foreign words being spoken around her with wide grey eyes. She could not understand what was spoken between Lexa and the other people. She knew Anya and she had seen Indra before as well, but the man was honestly scaring her. He continued to threw her dark glances and she tried her hardest, not to look at him at all, tightening her grip around Lexa’s larger hand and almost hiding behind the woman’s legs.</p><p>“Can we go to the ho’ses?” Marie asked in a soft tone after a few moments of silence. She did not feel well under the weight of the man’s stare and his dark eyes seemed to never leave her face right now. She had tugged very lightly at Lexa’s hand to gain the woman’s attention, but she had not wanted to disturb her. </p><p>Lexa nodded her head with the hint of a smile. Everything had been said, which needed to be said right now. The attack would start soon, but she would not accompany the troop moving against the invaders. She would have liked to separate on better terms with her former mentor, she could see easily enough that the general was personally offended that she had taken the order from her and basically degraded her. </p><p>“Why’s Anya ang’y?” Marie asked lowly, looking up at Lexa curiously. The general had been weirdly tense during the talk and she had appeared very angry, although she had not said anything. </p><p>Lexa sighed lightly under her breath. She had hoped that Marie had not caught on to Anya’s mood, but it seemed that the child was more attentive than she had assumed. “You do not need to worry about that” she tried to ease the girl’s apparent worry.</p><p>Marie frowned up at the commander, pulling her wolf plushie closer to her chest, while she narrowed her grey eyes probingly at Lexa. </p><p>Lexa waited for a few moments if Marie would simply let the subject drop, but to her internal consternation the child continued to throw her questioning glances. She had to stop the girl from tumbling over her own feet twice, before she finally gave in and tried to explain in a gentle tone “Anya is angry about a decision I made”.</p><p>Marie tilted her head to the side, trying to understand what the vague words may mean. She did not fully understand the relationship yet between Anya and Lexa. At times, they appeared to be close and at others, she could not pinpoint if Anya was simply working for Lexa. </p><p> “Isn’t Anya like you’ mommy?” Marie asked after a moment of silent contemplation.</p><p>Lexa furrowed her brows, as she let her green eyes quickly scan their surroundings. Although quite a number of warriors were watching their every step, no one should have stood close enough to catch the child’s soft words. She knew that Marie’s question was innocent in nature and born out of a complete lack of understanding of their society. “No, Marie, Anya has been my mentor before I was called to lead our people” she tried to clarify for the little girl. </p><p>Marie seemed to mull the words over in her head in silence, obviously still not understanding yet what the difference was.</p><p>Once they had reached the place where the horses were standing behind a fence, Lexa hoisted Marie up onto the fence, quickly climbing over it, while trying to keep the child on the fence with one hand. From the corner of her eyes, Lexa could see Gustus hover in their periphery, clearly not sure if he should step up to offer assistance or not. </p><p>“Anya has taught me since I was young” Lexa continued to explain, placing the child back onto her own feet carefully “She taught me to fight, she taught me how to survive, how to navigate through the woods”. </p><p>“Will you teach me too?” Marie asked after a moment of silence, grey eyes looking up at Lexa hopefully.</p><p>Lexa smiled slightly at the girl “Yes, I will teach you, little one” she agreed. She knew that Marie needed a lot to learn, she had absolutely no clue about this world after all. It was nearly a miracle that she had run into the girl a few nights ago. She shuddered to imagine how the child could have been killed this very night if she had not been found by her. </p><p>Marie smiled brightly at that, before it dimmed momentarily again as a thought struck her mind “But I wanna call you Mommy…” she retorted lowly.</p><p>Lexa had to strain her ears to catch the girl’s low words and she crouched down next to her, placing her hands softly on her thin shoulders “If you want to call me that, you can” she promised in a strangely breathy tone. Her heart was beating faster within her chest and she felt a warmth bloom there as well. She could not remember if she had ever wished to call Anya mother, but she doubted it. She had always known that Anya was her first, not her kin. </p><p>Marie smiled again brightly, broadcasting the cute gap between her teeth. She let out a shrill surprised giggle as the commander’s mare had trotted over to them and blew out a huge breath towards her. </p><p>Lexa remained in a crouched position directly behind Marie, letting her arms gently rest around the child’s middle, while Marie stretched a little onto her tiptoes to be able to caress the silky skin of the horse’s nose. </p><p>Gustus had remained behind the fence, watching over his young leader carefully, keeping his eyes on the warriors around them. The atmosphere in TonDC seemed to switch to excitement as the attack on the invaders was approaching; the troops would leave shortly and the warriors were preparing themselves for the battle currently. He did not expect an attack on the commander to occur now, but not all glances staying on the blonde child leaning so casually against the commander were only curious. He was not convinced that Lexa’s choice to keep the girl so close was really wise, but it was obvious that the little girl would stay. The closeness between them was nearly palpable. </p><p>Lexa had planned to remain in sight in TonDC until their troop would leave to attack the invaders. She knew that her presence was important to keep up the motivation of even the last of their warriors and she also wanted everyone to begin accepting Marie’s close proximity to her. Word would undoubtedly begin to spread about the arrival of the child at her side as the survivors of the attack would return to their villages in a few days. </p><p>Marie seemed entirely content to remain like this, sheltered by Lexa and laughing as the horse continued to either blow its breath into her face or to nuzzle at it, once she stopped caressing the huge animal. She obviously enjoyed herself. </p><p>Once Lexa noticed, that the warriors began to really organise themselves in order to leave TonDC, she got to her feet again, offering a hand to Marie, to lead her away from the horses again. She would see the warriors off with Marie. She was positive that the child would remain silent and still at her side. </p><p>~ ~ ~ </p><p>Marie was intimidated by the warriors now. Most of them had been wearing pieces of their armour before, but now that they were all dressed into full attire and their faces were either obscured by horrific masks or smeared with war paint, they looked absolutely frightening. </p><p>She held on to one of Lexa’s hand tightly, clutching the wolf toy to her chest with a vice-like grip, while she tried to disappear behind the woman’s legs. </p><p>The only moment, the child perked up a little, was when Anya crossed their path. </p><p>The general stopped in front of them for a moment, while Marie looked up at her with wide grey eyes. </p><p>While Marie was afraid of the other warriors, Anya’s crown like thing she was wearing, fascinated her. She waved at the woman shily, her wolf toy still in hand. </p><p>The corners of Anya’s lips twitched into the hint of a smile for a moment “I see that I have chosen well for you” she commented in a dry slightly amused tone.</p><p>Marie needed a little moment to understand what the general meant at all, but once she did, she nodded enthusiastically “Love it” she proclaimed with a toothy smile. </p><p>“That much is obvious, Marie” Anya acknowledged with a slight shake of her head. Her expression cooled off the slightest bit as she nodded towards her former second in mute farewell. </p><p>Marie watched the general join the rows and rows of warriors who walked past them with a weird feeling. She had never really seen what a battle actually meant and she did not have more than a vague imagination of it. But she had understood by now, that not all of the warriors would return alive to TonDC. </p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>“Anya’s coming back, ‘ight?” she asked in a slightly high-pitched tone a few moments later. Tris had not returned and she was worried that Anya would not either. </p><p>Once the warriors had begun to disappear out of sight in the tree line surrounding TonDC, drums had begun to resonate loudly in the distance, sending shivers through Marie’s frame. </p><p>Lexa looked down at the girl in silence for a second. She knew that no good would come out of lying to the little girl. No warrior knew for sure that they survived any attack. “I hope that she does” she finally settled on, looking back towards the treeline. She could distinctly make out the last warriors disappearing out of sight. </p><p>Marie was not really satisfied with that kind of answer. She hated not knowing things and she wondered if it would forever remain this way on earth now. On the Ark, she had known that her parents would return, when they left. Until they did not return any more of course. Maybe life had not been that different on the Ark then? She was confused by this train of thoughts, she did not voice them to Lexa though.</p><p>Marie was distracted from her thoughts a few moments later, when Lexa gave her hand a gentle squeeze, leading her back towards the commander’s tent.</p><p>Enough time had passed, that lunch would be served soon and there was not much to do right now. TonDC was nearly empty, safe for a few warriors who had remained behind for the improbable occurrence that they would be attacked. </p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa got rid of the commander’s regalia in her tent. She knew that she would not be needed until there would be news on the attack. </p><p>Marie watched Lexa from the table. The commander’s shoulder guard looked extremely huge and heavy. “Do I get one like that one day, too?” she asked in a curious tone. </p><p>Lexa turned towards the blonde child with a slight smile. The girl was young and children her age began their training as warriors already. Somehow, she was hesitant to offer to Marie to begin ligth training with her as well now. She wanted the child to remain the curious innocent little girl she was right now, for a while longer. She herself did not have a choice as a child if she wished to become a warrior. As soon as her blood had been discovered, her path had been clear. Marie was no nightblood, she might not even wish to become a warrior in her future. </p><p>“If you become a warrior, you will get your own armour” she agreed, placing her sash on a stool, together her two swords. </p><p>Marie smiled at the agreement “Can I become a wa’io’ tomo’ow?” she asked enthusiastically, nearly jumping up and down on the chair in bubbling excitement.</p><p>Lexa snorted under her breath and shook her head “Certainly not” she denied in fond amusement “You do not become a warrior overnight, little one. It takes long years of training to become a real competent warrior” she explained.</p><p>Marie seemed honestly disappointed by that and her enthusiasm dimmed noticeably “Can’t I t’ain tomo’ow then?” she asked instead in a pleading tone.</p><p>Lexa gave the girl a gentle look as she sat down next to her.</p><p>Barely a second passed, before Marie slid from her chair and gravitated towards the commander, waiting with an innocent look until Lexa bend down a little, pulling the child easily onto her lap. </p><p>“You are not required to become a warrior, little one. You are aware of that?” Lexa questioned in a calm tone, pulling the small body a little closer to herself.</p><p>“But…” Marie began to argue in a whiny tone “you all wa’io’s” she reasoned.</p><p>Lexa chuckled under her breath at the child’s weird pronunciation “Not everyone is a warrior, little one. We do all receive basic training at one point” she amended and when Marie seemed ready to add another argument, Lexa quickly cut her off “You are still very young and you are new to this world. You can begin training later, once you have fully settled in”. She on purpose did not clarify on a time point, not wanting Marie to focus on becoming a warrior. </p><p>Marie seemed appeased by her answer for now and Alira bringing a tray with food only a moment later, was enough off a distraction to fully let the child forget about her sudden wish to become a warrior. </p><p>During the meal, Lexa continued to teach Marie new words in Trigedasleng. She had at first thought of starting with certain phrases in their language, but finally settled in teaching the child about the things surrounding them. </p><p>Marie seemed to soak up the new knowledge like a sponge. Listening to the commander’s every word with large grey eyes. She mouthed the new words a few times, before Lexa introduced new ones to her. Her pronunciation was even worse than it was in English, but Lexa was certain that the child would learn quickly with time. </p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The rest of the day passed in this fashion and Lexa knew that it was dangerous to let herself enjoy this soothing moments with the child too much. </p><p>Life was short-lived on earth and she was painfully called back into reality, as a messenger brought news a few hours later. </p><p>Lexa received the news with a stony face, sending the messenger away in a tightly controlled tone. </p><p>Marie had observed the conversation with a frown. The stranger had talked way too fast for her to really understand anything. It was obvious though that the young man was agitated. She was confused by Lexa’s reaction though. If the troops had been successful, why was Lexa looking so shocked? Had the other 100 somehow managed to win unexpectedly?</p><p>She felt her heart sink into her stomach. Lexa should look happy if they had won. Her expression could only be explained by the fact that they had lost the battle. That must mean, that Anya would not be returning.</p><p>Once the man had left the tent again, Marie slowly stood up from the table, walking over to Lexa who was still standing as it seemed shell-shocked in the middle of the tent.</p><p>“Anya’s not coming back?” she asked in a faint tone, feeling tears gather in her grey eyes.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 28</p><p>Lexa clenched her jaw, swallowing forcefully for a moment. She shook her head in the negative, unable to formulate words right now.</p><p>Marie letting out what sounded like a strangled whimper, forced Lexa back into action.</p><p>The commander tried to keep her expression as controlled as possible, although her mind was in turmoil. She had not even truly considered the option that Anya would not return. The woman had always been almost invincible in her mind. Something within her mind was revolting at the news, denying the possibility that her former mentor was indeed gone.</p><p>“Th’y all sto’ped b’eat’ing” Marie asked in a strangled tone and slight hiccups were already making her words so much harder to understand, as Lexa crouched down in front of the young girl.</p><p>The scout had clearly relayed that their whole army had been killed. Lexa merely nodded her head, not fully trusting that her own voice would remain steady right now if she attempted to speak.</p><p>She knew what this loss meant. She had lost someone she genuinely cared about, even if she had done so in private and secrecy. But they had also lost 300 warriors. Their power would be dearly missed. She knew that some of the surrounding villages had sent each and every warrior they had, which now left them without any kind of protection. Lexa had hoped that the Trigedakru army would have been more than enough to take care of the invaders, but this now forced her to quickly send for reinforcement from the other clans as well.</p><p>The tears which began to run down the child’s roundish pale cheeks, stopped Lexa’s strategical mind from planning for a moment and she focused her whole attention on the little girl. She was at a loss for words though. She knew that there simply were no words for this. So, she mutely pulled the girl into her arms, hugging her close to her own chest.</p><p>Marie immediately put her arms around Lexa’s neck and she nestled her face against the crook of her neck. Her whole frame was shaking with the force of her sobs.</p><p>Lexa tightened her grip on the small body within her arms, allowing herself a small moment of weakness. She felt tears burning within her eyes as well, but she forced them to remain unshed. She caressed over the girl’s blonde locks, simply holding her silently and letting her cry.</p><p>The child must have exhausted herself with the crying and Lexa felt her sobs slowly dying down, before her breathing evened out and she carefully carried the girl over to the bed, placing her onto it and tucking her in with a fur.</p><p>Before she swept from the tent, Lexa picked up the wolf plushie which the little girl had dropped before and placed it within the sleeping child’s arms. Although she did not like the sight of the child’s tear tracks, she also did not wish to wake her up by cleaning them away.</p><p>On the way to search for Indra and a few scouts she could send to the other clans, Lexa ordered Gustus to remain by her tent and fetch her in case Marie woke up. She was uncertain how the little girl would react to this loss now, but she sensed that the child would need her more than ever in the next few days.</p><p>Lexa was still in the process of issuing out all of her orders, when a few villagers suddenly pointed at the sky, their features distorted in what appeared to be astonishment and a hint of fear.</p><p>She knew what this large thing falling from the sky must be and Lexa had to control her own expression tightly to remain passive. Her army had failed to erase the smaller group of the invaders who had been nothing more than untrained youths and from the little bit of information Marie had been able to supply them with, the people who were falling onto earth now, would not be unorganized children, but at least part of them would be trained warriors with weapons which resembled those of the Mountain Men.</p><p>Lexa quickly modified her orders to the scouts. She wanted word to be spread through every clan immediately, asking them to either kill or capture everyone of the people from the Sky. She also would require the full strength of the army of the Kongeda to either kill all of the invaders or at the very least force them from her lands. She also ordered for scouting teams to locate where the people from the sky had landed.</p><p>It was already dark, when Lexa returned to the commander’s tent. Gustus had told her that there had been no kind of noise from within the tent, so Lexa had not expected to nearly fall over Marie as she entered her tent.</p><p>The little girl seemed nearly hysterical and Lexa was internally irritated why Gustus had not noticed the child’s distress. Marie must have been in the middle of the tent for some time. She could only guess that the child had woken from a nightmare or something, only to find her gone. She could imagine how scared the little girl must been.</p><p>Judging from the way the child’s grey eyes looked red and slightly swollen, Lexa knew that she must have been crying for some time already as well and she felt her heart give a painful clench at the thought of having left the child on her own in the first place. She could already imagine that she would need to take the girl with her everywhere she went during the next few days, before Marie would calm down again. She knew that children her age could still suffer from separation anxiety and the girl had admittedly already been through much and she was the only person alive now to which the girl likely felt any kind of connection.</p><p>Marie must have immediately rushed into her direction as Lexa had entered the tent, probably more than overjoyed to see her return and as Lexa had not expected the child to be out of bed at all, she had nearly stumbled over her small form.  </p><p>“Mommy!” Marie let out in a teary tone, which already sounded exhausted.</p><p>Lexa tried to give the child an encouraging soothing smile “I am here, little one” she tried to reassure her. She did not bother to kneel down, but just picked the girl up. It was late, they both needed to catch at least a little more sleep before the sun would rise. She could already imagine that the next days would be busy and she could also imagine that Marie might be a little cranky.</p><p>“You gone” Marie sobbed out as she wound her arms and little legs around the woman, holding on as tightly as she could.</p><p>“I am here” Lexa repeated in a soothing tone. She sat down on the edge of the bed, trying with one hand to untie her boots and kick them off her feet. She did not have it in her heart to separate their contact even for a moment now.</p><p>Lexa gently wiped the child’s tears away after she had convinced her that they would lie down together now in order to sleep and that she would not be going anywhere anymore tonight.</p><p>“Ssh, I am here, little one” Lexa repeated again in a soft tone. She had lied down on her back and she was not in the least surprised when Marie found her way back onto her chest, lying down in the position in which she had already slept the previous night. She also did not comment that the child’s wolf plushie was being pushed into her face. She mutely continued to rub soothing circles on the child’s back as she felt her own shirt slowly getting damp with the little girl’s tears.</p><p>Lexa already thought that the child had fallen back asleep, when she heard her whisper in a nearly broken tone “Don’t go ‘way again, mommy”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 29</p><p>Lexa had hoped that Marie would have calmed down by morning, but the girl remained clingy all through the morning.</p><p>Every time, Lexa tried to let go of the girl, the child would try to hold on to her. She had tried to leave Marie in the bed, while she wanted to wash up for the day, but the little girl had immediately followed her, insisting on staying in sight.</p><p>Lexa watched her from the corner of her eyes, while she brushed her teeth. The girl was standing directly next to the curtain separating the bathing area from the rest of the tent, holding onto it with one hand, while her other arm held her wolf plushie to her chest and she had snuck her thumb back between her lips, sucking on it mutely, as her grey eyes were fixed on Lexa silently.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath as she changed her clothes quickly “Come here, little one” she addressed the blonde child in a soft tone, motioning her closer. They could get the girl ready for the day as well now. She would have preferred for Marie to sleep longer, but she guessed that she could always try to let her take a nap later.</p><p>She was not sure yet if leaving the vicinity of the battle now would be too early. It was worrying that the invaders had disappeared. She had also of course sent out scouts to find out what had happened to the other invaders who had fallen from the sky only the day before. She would postpone returning to the capitol, until everything was secure again.</p><p>Marie stepped closer on her bare feet obediently, thumb still stuck in her mouth as she looked up at the woman with big grey eyes.</p><p>Lexa chuckled at the child “I fear that you will need to remove your thumb from your mouth and place your Wolf on the stool now” she said in a gentle tone, brushing a lose strand of blonde hair behind one of her ears in a slight caress.</p><p>Marie visibly frowned and it seemed as if her grip on her plushie only increased for a moment and she made no move to let go of her thumb either, only staring at the commander silently.</p><p>Lexa crouched down in front of the little girl, bringing them onto the same level and she gently reached out, taking Marie’s free hand into one of hers and placed her other hand on Marie’s elbow “If you do not want to get back into to bed to sleep some more, we will get you washed up then, little one” she proclaimed in a soft tone. She waited for a short time, giving the little girl the chance to decide if she indeed wished to return to bed, but Marie obediently let Lexa take her plushie.</p><p>“I will not just disappear, Marie” Lexa tried to reassure the little girl, sensing how unusually tense the child still was. She could understand that the news of last night had unsettled the girl and she knew that Marie had begun to form a bond to Anya as well. She knew that the little girl had lived through too much loss already for her short life, but she also knew that Marie would get through it.</p><p>Marie looked at the woman with her wide grey eyes “P’omise, mommy?” she asked in an emotional tone.</p><p>Lexa gently squeezed the child’s hands, she did not like to sugar-coat the truth, but she was fairly certain that it was necessary now to reassure the young girl “Yes, little one, I promise to stay with you” she promised in an even tone, although the words felt heavy in her heart. “Let’s get you washed up now” she said using a lighter tone and lightly tickling along the girl’s sides for a moment, until Marie squealed in laughter.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa made sure that the little girl could accompany her to all of her activities during the day as she did not wish for a repetition of the previous day. It was obvious that the inhabitants of the village were grieving for their warriors. Most of the warriors who had been within Anya’s unit and the units she had sent as backup came from the area around TonDC.</p><p>None of the scouts she had sent out had returned yet, but a scouting team which had circled around the vicinity of the village had spotted a new group of the invaders roaming through the forest. They had not attacked as these invaders were visibly carrying guns.</p><p>“See ho’ses?” Marie inquired in a soft tone, barely loud enough for Lexa to catch her words. She was at the moment standing next to Lexa, holding onto her hand, while the commander was speaking with Indra.</p><p>“In a moment” Lexa answered the girl briefly, only looking down for a moment.</p><p>Marie was slowly getting bored with just standing there and watching the adults talk.</p><p>“I can take her” Gustus offered a moment later from Lexa’s side, surprising the commander with his offer.</p><p>Lexa interrupted her conversation with Indra again. It was obvious that Marie was bored, but she was not sure if the girl would actually wish to leave her with Gustus. She crouched down in front of the blonde child again “Gustus has offered to bring you to the horses now, little one” she explained slowly in a low tone. She knew that no one would dare to make a comment on how she handled Marie now, but it was still weird to act like this now outside of the commander’s tent.</p><p>Marie tightened her hold on her plushie, looking over Lexa’s shoulder to Gustus for a moment. The burly man was watching them and once he caught the girl’s gaze, his expression softened visibly and he smiled at her kindly. Still, Marie shook her head “Wanna go with you” she retorted in a soft tone.</p><p>Lexa slightly shook her head “You can go now with Gustus or you have to wait for me, little one” she tried to explain and waited for Marie to think about her choice.</p><p>“Gustus’ you’ f’iend?” the child asked in an unsure tone, biting at her lower lip shily.</p><p>Lexa nodded encouragingly. She knew that she could trust Gustus with Marie. The man had experience with children as well because of his own daughter. She could understand though that Marie would be intimidated by his burly figure.</p><p>Gustus waited patiently for Marie to make up her mind and it seemed to take a long time until the child cautiously let go of Lexa’s hand and instead took hold of Gustus’ offered hand. Lexa remained crouched down for a moment longer, letting her hand fall from the child’s back as she slowly walked away with Gustus.</p><p>Lexa smiled at the girl and gave her a nod when Marie turned around to her once more, before leaving her sight, waving at her shily.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 30</p><p>Marie held onto Gustus’ hand unsurely. She would definitely have preferred for Lexa to accompany her. She had seen the man around Lexa often enough, to sort of know him, but he never had appeared friendly in any way and he was looking almost like a giant to her. But standing around next to Lexa, while the woman was speaking to what appeared to be an endless row of warriors or generals or whatever they were, was honestly just boring. She had not understood any of what they had been talking about either.</p><p>“There is no reason for you to be afraid of me” Gustus addressed the child in a kind tone. He was holding onto her small hand carefully. The size of her hand, reminded him of times when his own daughter had been so small. Sierra had been outgoing and active as a young child, always getting into trouble in one way or the other. He could imagine that the young girl did not feel at home with them yet, so, he was actually interested to see her show her true self.</p><p>Marie looked up at the burly man with wide grey eyes, feeling almost caught. She tried to give the man a smile, but she could feel her cheeks getting hotter and she instinctively tried to pull her hand away, wanting to return to Lexa’s side immediately, as she pulled her wolf plushie closer to her chest.</p><p>Gustus sighed under his breath, sensing that his well-meant words had just unsettled the child further. He kept his hold on the child’s small hand though, not wanting her to run off. Although, the mood in TonDC was calm right now, he did not wish her to wander around alone either. He had seen his young commander with the little blonde girl often enough now, to know that the child would be staying. His job was it to protect Lexa’s life and it went without saying, that it was extended now to protecting Marie as well.</p><p>Marie only really forgot about feeling unwell, once she could make out the horses. She smiled fully then, pulling Gustus quicker towards the horses now. Although the horses were very big, she liked their company.</p><p>“Hello, ho’sie” Marie greeted the commander’s black steed, who came over to greet her. Gustus had finally let go of the child’s hand, but he remained standing behind her, only a little distance between them.</p><p>So far, Lexa had usually been kneeling behind her, once the horses got close to her. Now, being alone, it felt completely different and although Marie had wanted to come and pet the horses again, she was totally intimidated now. The black horse had come close to her and leaned down, coming closer with its enormous head at an alarming pace.</p><p>Marie let out a startled shriek, when it appeared to her as if the horse wanted to hurt her.</p><p>Gustus quickly stepped forward, pushing the little girl behind himself. In her fright, Marie had raised her arms quickly, efficiently hitting her plush animal against the horse’s head, spooking it as well in the process.</p><p>Marie actually reached out and held onto Gustus’ trousers, when the dark horse suddenly reared in front of them.</p><p>Gustus tried to shush the horse, but he knew that he had very little chances to calm the steed. The horse was trained to obey Lexa and no one else after all. Once it seemed as if the horse might actually try to kick out, Gustus quickly took the little girl up into his arm and hurriedly left the enclosure with the horses. The commander’s steed would calm down alone, but he did not want to risk Marie getting trampled. The other horses had been affected by Lexa’s steed acting up.</p><p>Marie seemed entirely shocked by what had just happened and she was stiff in the man’s arms, as tears already began to roll down her roundish cheeks.</p><p>“Sssh” Gustus tried to sooth the child in a soft tone “nothing happened, little one”. He had heard Lexa call the child by that nick name and hoped that it would calm her in some way.</p><p>“Mommy…” was the only thing Marie sobbed out as she began to cry, still somehow fighting against the man’s hold on her body.</p><p>Gustus sighed under his breath, realizing that the child was not trusting him at all and that it would probably be hopeless to try and sooth the girl now. It seemed that Marie had reacted badly to the news about Anya’s death and the child was even clingier now to Lexa. He was fairly certain that this little scare now was less than helpful to the girl settling in with them.</p><p>He could imagine that Lexa would not be pleased with him if he had to bring the girl back in tears, but it could not be helped now. The only other option would be to wait somewhere with Marie until she had calmed down on her own, but he was not sure if that was likely to happen at all. The child was still as stiff as a wooden plank in his arms.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa had just been talking to one of the returned scouting teams, who had observed more of the invaders roaming through the woods armed with guns. None of their scouts had been hurt, but the invaders had shot blindly at everything which moved.</p><p>She saw Gustus approach from afar already and her attention immediately was lost on the conversation. The child’s bright blonde hair contrasted starkly to Gustus’ dark clothing and she was surprised that Marie was actually in her guard’s arms. As he came closer, it became apparent quickly though, that Marie was not comfortable at all.</p><p>Lexa quickly sent the scouts she had been talking to away with a mute gesture, barking to Indra that she would return later, already striding into Gustus’ direction. Was Marie hurt?</p><p>“Mommmyyyy…!!!” Marie let out loudly, as she caught sight of Lexa, trying to bend further away from Gustus, making it hard for the man to even hold onto her at all.</p><p>Lexa quickly crossed the remaining distance between them, already holding out her arms to accept the child back. She wanted to know what had happened, but for now it was more important to calm the child again. She knew that this open display would be confusing to the inhabitants of TonDC, but she actually did not care right now.</p><p>“Are you hurt somewhere, little one?” Lexa asked, taking the little girl right over from Gustus, trying to let her gaze roam quickly over the child’s small form for any obvious wounds, but she could not detect anything amiss.</p><p>Marie seemed to upset to say anything right now and she hugged her arms around Lexa’s neck.</p><p>“Hush, little one” Lexa tried to sooth the child, keeping her in place securely as she drew soothing circles on the girl’s back, gently brushing over her blonde locks as well “Everything is fine, little one”. She guessed that now may be a good time to try and let the child take a short nap. So, she brought Marie back into the commander’s tent, sitting down on the bed with the child.</p><p>“Can you tell me what happened, little one?” Lexa tried to inquire in a soft tone, as Marie finally looked up at her, obviously having stopped crying by now.</p><p>“Ho’sie was ang’y” Marie tried to explain, still hiccupping slightly.</p><p>Lexa furrowed her brow slightly. She would need to ask Gustus for what had actually happened. She knew that her horses had been tame with Marie before after all.</p><p>“Stay with mommy now?” Marie asked in a soft tone a few moments later, letting out a slight yawn.</p><p>Lexa smiled softly at the child. She laid down together with Marie, allowing her to settle onto her chest to get her to calm down fully.</p>
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<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 31</p><p>Lexa remained in her bed with Marie. The toddler had drifted off to sleep only a few moments after they had settled down. She did not know if Marie was too old for naps throughout the day, but she guessed that allowing her a little rest, could not hurt either.</p><p>Her thoughts quickly drifted away as well, dwelling on past times she had spent in this very village in her youth. She had been in TonDC often under Anya’s care and tutelage. Lexa sighed deeply under her breath, as various memories of her former mentor invaded her mind.</p><p>The little warm weight on her chest and the girl’s soft breathing ghosting over her neck, felt like a weird comfort now, grounding her into reality. The child needed her, just like her people did. Now that Anya, the only one who Marie really had connected with beside herself, was gone, Lexa knew that she would need to find someone else to help her with the toddler.</p><p>A war was looming on the horizon now and for the first time ever, she worried for her own survival not as a political figure, but as a caretaker of someone else.</p><p>Lexa had not even noticed how her eyes had closed as well, but she was woken an unknown time later by a sharp painful sensation rushing through her arms, from her hands.</p><p>She opened her green eyes just in time to see the glow of a bright light dim in the blink of an eye. Lexa knew that she had scrapped her knuckles a few hours ago and she was fairly certain that the slight wounds would have vanished completely now.</p><p>It seemed as if Marie was still asleep. One of her little hands was resting on one of her own, while the toddler was sucking on the thumb of her other hand.</p><p>Lexa’s thoughts were turmoiled immediately. The child obviously was not controlling this weird whatever power she possessed. But this would make hiding Marie’s healing powers almost impossible. It would be impossible to caution the child against using it, when she was not even aware of using them in the first place. She wondered if the toddler would even be able to deliberately make use of this healing power at all.</p><p>She carefully snaked her free arm around the peacefully slumbering child’s body, intensifying their physical connection. She would protect her with her life if she had to.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The next three days passed relatively slowly. Marie continued to show mood swings and she was literally glued to Lexa’s side, refusing to get out of sight.</p><p>The few times in which Lexa had insisted on leaving Marie in the commander’s tent, Alira had tried to console the toddler as best as she could. On the first day, the child had been inconsolable, crying the whole time in which the commander was absent. Alira had tried to sooth the child, but Marie had quickly begun to fight against her hold.</p><p>On the second day, Marie had actively tried to follow the commander out of the tent as soon as Alira had turned her back on the child for a single moment.</p><p>And on the third day, the toddler had not reacted with her previous sadness, but she instead threw a temper tantrum as soon as Lexa had left. It was absolutely impossible to engage the child in any kind of play, neither to convince her to eat or drink anything. The child had sat down in the middle of the tent, after throwing around a few of her toys in obvious anger. Her little arms crossed resolutely over her chest and a firm scowl on her features, as her grey eyes were fixed on the closed tent flap. As short as the child’s attention span seemed to be, it was almost astounding how long she could concentrate.</p><p>“Marie, don’t you want to come over and play with me until Lexa returns?” Alira tried once again to catch the girl’s attention. She had tried almost everything by now. Reasoning with the girl. Being stern and firm. Even raising her voice, but that had only resulted in more tears.</p><p>Marie obviously had heard her, but she shook her head in the negative. “W’it fo’ mommy” she answered in a tight tone. It appeared as if her speech had gotten worse during the last days, as if the mental stress was negatively having an impact on her.</p><p>Alira sighed under her breath. She hated to see the child so obviously upset, but the girl was absolutely unapproachable by everyone beside Lexa. She knew that the commander was interrogating two Sky people currently. A man had been captured in the Dead Zone and another one had just been brought into TonDC a few hours ago. Lexa had not explained to Marie, why she could not accompany her now. None of the warriors who had been on the attack against the invaders a few days ago, had returned and they all knew that this meant by now, that indeed no one had survived.</p><p>“Marie” Alira tried again, getting up from the table and crouching down in front of the girl.</p><p>Marie just reacted in crossing her arms tighter over her chest and turning her head away from the woman with a harsh scowl. She had obviously learned by now that she was not allowed to follow the commander if Lexa did not take her outside herself.</p><p>Alira just held the plush lamb in front of the little girl’s face mutely. It was obvious that she was failing once again to distract the child.</p><p>Marie immediately took hold of her plushie, pulling it from Alira’s hands and cuddling it to her chest.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>A few hours had seemed to pass until Lexa finally returned, dressed into nondescript clothes as a disguise.</p><p>“Mommy!” Marie squealed loudly as soon as the tent flap opened again and the girl had gotten to her feet surprisingly fast, rushing into Lexa’s direction.</p><p>The commander was used to such an enthusiastic greeting by now and immediately bend down to catch the little girl. She almost automatically cooed at the toddler answering her greeting “You missed me, little one, didn’t you?” she softly said, gently wiping away the visible tear tracks from her round cheeks. “Have you played with Alira?” she asked the toddler in a kind tone, carrying her over to the table.</p><p>Alira already shook her head in the negative at the commander’s question.</p><p>Lexa’s expression faltered for a moment, before she could force it back into a smile. She was beginning to worry how deeply Anya’s death seemed to have affected Marie. The child seemed to be moody, cried a lot and only smiled in Lexa’s presence.</p><p>Lexa had given an ultimatum to the invaders. They were supposed to leave their lands in the next three days, or she would lead her army against their camp. Her scouts had seen them building a fence around it and they had reportedly begun to shoot at anything which moved. She did not know if Markus Kane would recognize Marie or if even knew the child personally. It had sounded as if much more people had been living among the stars than she could have ever imagined. But she would see soon enough as Markus Kane would be escorted into her tent soon.</p><p>Lexa sent Alira away with a thankful nod. She could imagine that it would not be easy to keep the toddler company in her absence.</p><p>“Little one, you need to let go for a moment” Lexa said in a soft tone. She planned to be dressed back into her full commander regalia, including war paint. She had presented Markus Kane with a completely different image of a mere servant girl and now she wanted to present the complete opposite.</p><p>Marie seemed to fear that she could be leaving again “Mommy, go’ng a’ain?” she asked in a whiny tone.</p><p>“No, little one” Lexa immediately reassured the toddler “I am staying, but I want to change clothes”.</p><p>Marie finally let go of Lexa, letting herself be placed on a chair next to the table, watching the commander dress attentively. “Wha’s t’at?” she asked curiously when Lexa had a fine brush in hand and a small container.</p><p>“War paint” Lexa informed the child in an amused tone as she began to apply the mask around her green eyes with practised movements. Once she looked back at the child, her grey eyes widened after a second of contemplation and she began to cry again.</p><p>“Sshh, it’s still me, little one” Lexa tried to sooth the child in a gentle tone, crouching down in front of her, keeping her expression as kind as she could.</p><p>Marie looked at the commander for long moments, before she carefully stretched out her little chubby hands, placing her hands right over Lexa’s war paint “Mommy…” she exclaimed softly with an unsure smile a second later.</p><p>“Exactly” Lexa nodded with a smile and took the child up into her arms, before she promised in a solemn tone “You never have to be afraid of me, little one”.</p>
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<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 32</p><p>Marie was obviously not really pleased about the fact that Gustus and Indra joined them in the commander’s tent a few moments later and she wanted to stay in Lexa’s arms.</p><p>“Little one, you need to get down for a few moments” Lexa addressed the child in a soft tone, keeping her green eyes kind, as she gently caressed over the toddler’s back, hoping to calm her down enough to convince her without new tears. She wanted Marie to look comfortable with them, in case that Markus recognized the child. It was obvious though that Marie was not feeling comfortable at all in Indra’s presence and Lexa was not convinced that Marie would feel well with Gustus after what had happened either.</p><p>She knew that Marie had taken a liking to a few of the smaller toys Anya had gotten from the villagers a few days ago. She adjusted her grip around the child’s small body, picking up a few of the toys as she went through the tent.</p><p>“Mommy has to work now” Lexa lowly said to the child, sitting down with her on her throne, too low for Indra or Gustus to catch her words. She knew that Marie understood the meaning of this words. Marie had explained to her that her own parents used to tell her that, if they had to leave and she understood what it meant.</p><p>As she had expected, the girl let go of her, when she tried to place her on the ground to her feet. “You can stay here and play a bit” Lexa said to the girl a little louder this time, handing over the few toys to the toddler.</p><p>Marie inspected them for a moment “Mommy, p’ay too?” she inquired softly, tilting her head to the side in question as she stared up at the woman.</p><p>Lexa shook her head “Not now, little one” she answered in a kind tone, watching the girl for a moment, as she obediently sat down directly in front of her.</p><p>Indra had watched the commander handle the toddler in silence. It was astounding to her to see their young leader act so gently with such a young child. She still thought that it would have been the most reasonable decision to let one of their families take care of the child.</p><p>“Commander” a voice resonated from outside of the tent.</p><p>Marie visibly startled at the for her unexpected shout and she immediately looked up at Lexa, seeking reassurance that everything was alright.</p><p>Lexa quickly reached out, lightly caressing over the child’s soft locks for a moment, giving her a kind smile, before she leaned back and called out to allow Markus Kane inside of her tent.</p><p>Marie had skittered slightly closer to Lexa, so close that Lexa could feel the warmth radiating off of the child’s body seeping through the material of her pants. Fortunately, she had taken up a little horse figurine by now and was moving it around in some imaginative scenery only she could see.</p><p>Lexa watched Markus enter the tent with attentive green eyes. The moment that the man spotted the child playing at her feet was obvious. The man seemed to falter in his steps for a moment.</p><p>Lexa knew that the physical stark difference between her own complexion and the child’s pale skin and almost golden light hair, was so strong, that no one would suspect a biological relation on the first glance. She was not certain though if the man was recognizing the child for who she was.</p><p>She had not expected though that Marie would look up and recognizes the man “Ma’us” she exclaimed in what appeared to be an almost happy tone.</p><p>Lexa’s eyes widened in surprise and she felt her heart falling in the pit of her stomach. Although the child had said that her parents had died, it was not clear if she might any other people left who could demand the girl.</p><p>Markus’ surprise was palpable as well and it was obvious that whatever he had wanted to propose for the sake of his people had completely slipped his mind now.</p><p>Marie did not seem to wish to approach the man though as she got to her feet a second later. She turned around, facing Lexa and held up her arms in a mute demanding gesture. The child had done so often enough that Lexa knew exactly what the toddler wanted.</p><p>Lexa mutely bent forward, pulling the child onto her lap in practised movements by now. Marie immediately settled herself comfortably on the commander’s lap, playing around with the tips of Lexa’s hairs.</p><p>Markus was watching the scene with unveiled bewilderment “That is Marie Matthews” he said unexpectedly after a moment, breaking the silence.</p><p>Lexa inspected him mutely for long moments, letting him squirm visibly under her intense gaze, before she acknowledged his words. “Why would you send such a young girl into a potentially deadly environment?” she asked in a sharp tone. She could not have asked Marie that, aware of the fact that the toddler would not have an answer either.</p><p>Markus kind and calm composure faltered and Lexa thought to spot honest remorse on his features. He did seem to sense that whatever he could say now, would not be good for the case of his people “Commander, I wanted to …” he began instead, tone almost pleading as he tried to change the subject.</p><p>Lexa raised one of her hands mutely, silencing him midsentence.</p><p>“<em>Commander, please, let me lead the troops over the river now”</em> Indra exclaimed in barely hidden impatience. The invaders had killed a few of their own scouts with their blind shooting by now.</p><p>“Mommy?” Marie asked in a soft tone, calling for Lexa’s attention.</p><p>Lexa had not actually expected the toddler speak up, but Markus’ eyes widened almost comically at hearing the girl address her so casually, that she thought it actually worth it for now. She looked down at the child questioningly.</p><p>Marie just seemed to want to show her something, although Lexa did not fully understand what it actually was. She turned her attention back to Markus, when Marie looked back at the plush lamb in her arms instead as well.</p><p>“You have not answered my question” she assessed in thinning patience.</p><p>Markus visibly swallowed and it appeared as if he was starting to sweat nervously. He himself had not directly been involved in the decision to include the parentless toddler to the delinquents, but he had not said anything at the council meeting against it either. He doubted that it would make sense to attempt to justify themselves in front of this leader. Although the commander was obviously very young, she obviously held all the power. “The scientists reasoned that all of us would be able to survive in this environment if a child can” he answered truthfully, keeping his tone as flat and emotionless as possible.</p><p>It was obvious that his answer had not been the best one, Lexa’s green eyes flashed dangerously in response and she nodded towards Indra <em>“Advance over the river”</em> she ordered in an angry tone. It was absolutely beyond her, how people could decide to include a mere toddler in such a dangerous endeavour. Her own people held their youths very highly, as they were their future.</p><p>She did not listen anymore to Markus trying to reason with her, motioning Gustus to bring the man out of her tent again, as she stood up from the throne, keeping Marie safely in her arms and carrying her behind the curtain of her sleeping area.</p><p>“You will never return to them, my little one” she said to the child in a soft tone, feeling a deep protectiveness bubble in her mind for the toddler.</p><p>Marie smiled at her, seemingly a little unsure, as she shily uttered “Lo’e you, mommy”, surprising Lexa into absolute speechlessness.</p>
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<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 33</p><p>The movement in the village outside of their tent were rather loud, but Marie did not appear overly curious about them. It almost seemed as if the child had decided that being inside the commander’s tent with Lexa, entailed being together and being safe.</p><p>Lexa did not trust that the invaders would leave their camp site without being faced with the size of her own army. So, she had given the order to Gustus, to have preparations being made that the rest of the army would follow Indra’s unit – who were already on the way right now – on the next day.</p><p>She knew that Marie had basically not left the commander’s tent at all since her scare with the horses and that they would need to ride tomorrow. So, she wanted to take the toddler back to her own horse now. Lexa hoped that Marie had not lost her complete fascination with the animals already.</p><p>Marie did not seem convinced though that leaving the tent was a good idea and when Lexa proposed that they could take a walk together, the blonde child slightly shook her head “S’ay wit’ mommy” she uttered in a soft tone, looking at the commander with pleading grey eyes.</p><p>Lexa slightly sighed under her breath. It could not be healthy for Marie to stay so immobile either and she needed fresh air as well. “You are going to stay with me, little one” she reassured the child in a kind tone “We are going outside together” she repeated her proposal with a friendly smile.</p><p>In the end, Lexa actually had to hold onto both of Marie’s hands, walking through TonDC extremely slowly as she had to watch out not to fall over the little girl, walking in front of her hesitantly.</p><p>Most of the warriors were busy enough with some form of preparation to break down the camp though, that no one was paying them too much of a mind and after some time, Marie finally relaxed enough again that Lexa could convince her softly to let go of at least one of her hands, which made walking with the toddler much less complicated.</p><p>Once Marie was visibly feeling a little surer again, she began to look around curiously at her surroundings again and a frown of confusion settled onto her features. She looked up at Lexa questioningly, head tilted to the side and the tip of her tongue peaked out one of the corners of her little mouth.</p><p>Lexa understood without words what the child wanted to know. The changes in TonDC were already visible as many tents had been taken down by the warriors of Indra’s unit who had already left TonDC and the village was visibly less crowded already. “We will leave TonDC tomorrow as well” she told the little girl in a calm tone.</p><p>Marie’s frown only seemed to deepen “Whe’e we goi’g?” she inquired softly.</p><p>Lexa smiled gently at the child. It was good that Marie’s interest into what was happening around her seemed to rekindle finally. “To see if the invaders will leave the lands of the coalition” she explained.</p><p>Marie blinked at the woman in obvious confusion. She did not know really yet what the coalition was and although she knew the single words, the sentence in complete did not make all that much sense to her. She heard a horse neigh nearby though and forgot about her question, as her grey eyes widened in reaction and she tightened her grasp on Lexa’s hand “Ho’sies” she exclaimed in a high-pitched tone.</p><p>Lexa sighed slightly under her breath, sensing that what had transpired with Gustus, had unsettled the child deeper than she had hoped for. Following her instinct for now, Lexa took the girl up into her arm and carried her the rest of the way to the meadow where the residual horses were grazing currently.</p><p>Marie noticeably stiffened once she saw the horses in front of them and she threw a mute scared look at Lexa.</p><p>“Nothing will happen to you, little one” Lexa reassured the girl in a soft tone “I will not let anything harm you” she added the promise almost solemnly.</p><p>Marie held the commander’s gaze for a long silent moment, before she relaxed again the slightest bit and Lexa took that as her cue to turn her attention to the horses in front of them.</p><p>Her own black mare was slowly making her way towards them, having of course recognized her.</p><p>Lexa crouched down on the ground, placing the girl directly in front of her and keeping her hands protectively around her, so that she had clasped them together in front of Marie.</p><p>Once the horse had appeared directly in front of them, Marie tried to lean away from its big head as it moved closer to sniff at her. While the child had laughed shrilly a few days ago, when the mare had blown its breath into her face, she now let out a noise mixed out of fear and protest, trying to move away.</p><p>“Little one, she is not going to hurt you” Lexa tried to reason with the girl in a kind tone. She had slung one arm around the child’s body as Marie had tried to flee by now, while she reached out and lightly caressed her mare’s nose to keep her interested in their presence for a few moments.</p><p>Marie needed a moment, before she turned back around in Lexa’s arms as she had tried to hide her face against her chest a second ago. She was looking at the horse with wide grey eyes “Ho’sie no’ ang’y?” she asked in a quivering tone.</p><p>Lexa chuckled under her breath as she shook her head. She carefully took one of the girl’s little hands into her own and brought them closer to the horse’s nose.</p><p>Marie squealed again at the sensation of the horse’s breath ghosting over her fingers, but she did not try to pull them away again. She let Lexa place her hand on the horse’s nose and she even caressed over it again carefully as if she was testing if the horse would react negatively again “It’s sooooooo so’t, mommy” she exclaimed after a moment.</p><p>Lexa nodded with a pleased smile on her features. She had felt the child’s tense frame relax again.</p><p>Marie continued to caress the horse for long moments, until Lexa heard someone approach. As she did not want for something to unsettle Marie again, she pulled the girl back into her arms and turned around, being faced with a scout. Lexa listened to his report, while Marie was obviously still sort of reaching out to the horse over one of her shoulders.</p><p>“Mommy, mommy, mommy!!!” Marie almost shouted a moment later, interrupting Lexa and the scout speaking.</p><p>Lexa furrowed her brows. So far, the child had not interrupted her when she was speaking with someone, so, she assumed that something was up. “What is it, Marie?” she questioned the girl in a patient tone.</p><p>Marie was pointing over her shoulder and her features showed disbelief “The’e’s Anya!” she exclaimed.</p><p>Lexa could not believe her ears for a second and already wanted to sadly lecture the child that Anya would never return, when she saw the scout’s eyes widen as well, who of course was looking in the same direction as Marie was over her shoulder. Lexa turned slightly and she felt her own eyes widen. Someone was approaching them and she needed only a moment to recognize the figure as Anya as well. She did for a second wonder though how Marie could have recognized the general so quickly before. She shouted a few orders over her shoulder, as her feet almost automatically carried her towards her presumed dead mentor, tightening her grasp on the little girl as well.</p><p>It was obvious on first glance that Anya had been through much during the time she been missing. She was covered in mud and dressed in a few mismatched pieces of clothing, which were obviously not her own. It looked as if she had thinned and what worried Lexa was the obviously bleeding wound on her stomach. It was indeed Anya though and Lexa felt something calm inside of her, as her green eyes connected with Anya’s brown ones.</p><p>She heard the general mutter something what sounded like a tired “I made it back” before she seemed to lose her residual strength and began to crumple.</p><p>Lexa tried to hold her up with one arm, while she held onto Marie with the other, waiting impatiently for the warriors hurrying into their direction, to help her.</p><p>“Anya hu’t?” Marie questioned in a noticeably worried tone, as her grey eyes switched between Anya and Lexa.</p><p>Lexa nodded with a solemn expression, hoping that the general could be saved. Although she had not really allowed herself to grief for her presumed death at all, it had still been enough to realize that she direly needed the woman.</p>
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<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 34</p><p>Lexa followed the two warriors carrying Anya’s limp body quickly, holding onto Marie tightly. She could hear that the young girl was sobbing lightly under her breath, probably being shocked at what was happening right now.</p><p>She had no idea how the general was still alive or where she could have been. Scouts had searched through the camp site of the invaders and had found no trace of Anya, beside her sword, the headpiece she had worn and her coat. The three items had been brought back to TonDC and were in fact being stored in the commander’s tent right now, as Lexa had not been able to decide to have them destroyed yet. She was glad now that they still were in her possession, Anya would undoubtedly be happy to receive them back.</p><p>Lexa only hoped that the general’s wounds were not serious, she could not imagine having to watch the woman die slowly during the next days. “Anya will be alright, little one” Lexa tried to reassure the little girl in her arms in a soft tone. She did not know so for sure of course, she could only hope and pray at this point.</p><p>She directed the warriors into her own tent. Nyko was not in the village currently and she knew that no other healer was residing in TonDC, which did not exactly make Anya’s fate look any better. She ordered for Alira, who had helped with medical emergencies before, to be brought to the commander’s tent immediately as well.</p><p>Lexa waited almost anxiously with Marie in the commander’s tent. She did not know if there was anything she could do now to help. The toddler still was visibly upset, but she had thankfully stopped crying. Lexa had allowed her to turn in her arms and the child was sort of sitting perched on the one side of her hip. She had one thumb in her mouth, while she was watching Anya mutely. Lexa was not sure if the child was even blinking at the moment.</p><p>“She will be alright” Lexa repeated in a soft tone, sighing deeply. She needed to believe into her own words right now as well.</p><p>Lexa had picked up the wolf toy Anya had gifted to Marie a few days ago, handing it over to the child, so that she had something to hold on to.</p><p>Alira had almost stormed into the commander’s tent in that moment and immediately stepped over to Anya. It was obvious from her expression that she was wondering as well what could have happened to the woman during her absence.</p><p>The wound on the general’s site was relatively quickly identified as the wound left behind from a bullet from a gun.</p><p>Marie winced strongly when Anya, conscious for the briefest moment as Alira dug the bullet out of the wound, let out a loud scream, before she lost consciousness again.</p><p>“She hu’tin’ An’ya” Marie exclaimed loudly, clutching her toy tighter. She had taken the thumb from her mouth and was pointing towards Alira and Anya, even though as if she was trying to reach out towards them.</p><p>Alira shortly looked over to Marie, shaking her head in the negative. She was occupied trying to stem the bleeding of the wound.</p><p>“Alira is trying to help Anya, little one” Lexa tried to explain in a forcefully calm tone. She knew that such wounds were tricky and the next days would show if Anya could survive this. If the wound would catch an infection, there would be no way of saving her.</p><p>“Is Anya gon’na stop b’eathing too?” Marie asked in a quivering tone, leaning closer to Lexa again.</p><p>Lexa swallowed down the lump lodged in her throat, before she shook her head “She is strong” she reassured the little girl. Once Alira asked for a dagger, she tried to distract the child. She knew well for what it would be used.</p><p>Marie seemed to sense though that something was about to happen and she did not react too happy to Lexa turning around and bringing her over to the table, sitting down with her there.</p><p>“Mommy, no” she exclaimed loudly “Anya!” she tried to wind out of Lexa’s arms “Mommy, wanna see. Go Anya!” she demanded loudly, tone getting higher with each word.</p><p>Lexa shook her head “No, little one, not now” she tightened her grasp on the toddler slightly, not too tight though as she of course did not wish to hurt the little girl.</p><p>Alira heated up the dagger Lexa had pointed her towards and she had asked Gustus to come inside of the tent for a moment. She expected Anya to wake up when she burnt the wound shut and she needed someone to hold her down during the whole ordeal.</p><p>“Marie, stop fighting me!” Lexa said, her voice firmer than before, pushing the girl firmly down, so that she was sitting on her lap.</p><p>The little girl appeared startled at the sudden change in the commander’s demeanour, so startled that she obeyed though, only looking up at Lexa with slightly wide grey eyes, clutching her plushie tighter to her chest.</p><p>“Mommy angry?” she checked after a second, clearly worrying.</p><p>Lexa sighed slightly under her breath. It at least kept Marie’s attention on herself, while she still caught Alira carrying a gleaming blade towards Anya from the corner of her eyes. She shook her head at the little girl “I am not angry at you, little one” she reassured the girl in a soft tone, keeping their gazes locked “Sometimes, it is very important that you listen to my every word though” she tried to explain.</p><p>Anya did not seem to wake up fully, but she let out a loud groan and her body twisted visibly under Gustus’ strong hands, while the scent of burnt skin wafted through the tent.</p><p>Marie visibly turned a shade paler at the scent and a look of utter alarm crossed over her roundish features. Her grey eyes seemed to glisten with tears, but she obediently held Lexa’s gaze and had completely stopped trying to move “Mommy…” she said in a whiny tone, clearly confused by what was happening around them.</p><p>Lexa embraced the girl gently, trying to sooth her mutely, as she lightly began to hum an old melody to the girl. She knew there was nothing she could say right now.</p><p>They waited in silence while Alira continued to tend to Anya’s wounds, bandaging them, before she quickly set up to clean the woman as well.</p><p>Lexa could hear the child sniffle slightly in her arms and she tried to sooth her further, while they waited.</p><p>“<em>Commander, it is done”</em> Alira said some time later, sounding a little exhausted as well. She did not have to say that they would need to wait to see if Anya would survive.</p><p>“Mommy, see Anya?” Marie immediately perked up in a soft tone.</p><p>Lexa nodded, standing up with the girl still in her arms. She nodded towards Alira, telling her mutely that she could leave for now.</p><p>Cautiously, Lexa sat down on the edge of the mattress, looking down at Anya’s unconscious form. She allowed Marie after a moment to climb from her lap onto the bed as well “Be careful, little one” she cautioned the child in a soft tone, but she did not have to worry.</p><p>Marie very slowly reached out with one of her little hands, gently touching one of Anya’s hand. Just as carefully, the child seemed to lie down next to Anya, only holding onto one of her arms. Lexa let her be for now “I’ll be back in a moment, little one” she assured the girl, patting onto her back once, before she got up. She wanted to inquire with the other scouts if anyone had seen something unusual.</p><p>Once the commander returned to the tent, it seemed as if Marie was falling asleep next to Anya. The child’s eyes were closed and she moved just a little bit, so that one of her little hands came to rest directly over the bandaged area.</p><p>Lexa blinked a few times as suddenly a light seemed to emit from the child’s hand resting on Anya’s stomach. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered the light a few days ago and how the child’s lip had been healed on the next day. Could Marie be healing Anya right now?</p>
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<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 35</p><p>Lexa had pulled the tent flap closed behind herself as fast as she could, when she caught on to what was happening in front of her. She quickly crossed through the tent, coming to a stop in front of her bed. She was not really surprised at all, that Anya’s breathing seemed elated and only a few seconds later, the general opened her brown eyes.</p><p>Anya’s eyes were wild for a moment, clearly confused where she was and Lexa felt unsettled by the sheer amount of distress pulling the general’s normally calm features into a grimace of utter terror.</p><p>Lexa could see Anya’s body tensing in what she assumed was her reflex to ready herself for a fight. She carefully settled down next to the little sleeping girl, ready to protect her from Anya in her dazed state if it came down to it.</p><p>“Anya” she addressed her former mentor in a mixture of worry and a deep feeling of gratitude. Lexa did not have to see the bandage being removed from the general’s torso to know that the wound would have been healed completely.</p><p>Anya seemed to take in a huge deep breath and Lexa could see the terror morphing into confusion. The older woman must have heard her voice at least and she could probably feel Marie still lying cuddled against her side.</p><p>“What happened?” Anya questioned in a raspy tone.</p><p>Lexa gave her shoulder a mute squeeze, standing back up for a moment to get a cup of water for the woman. “Here” she handed the cup over a moment later.</p><p>Anya’s brown eyes had wandered down and she took the cup without looking at it. She took a quick sip from the cool liquid, as she seemed to gather her thoughts for a moment.</p><p>“She healed me, didn’t she?” the general asked in an almost reverent tone after Lexa had placed the cup on a small table again.</p><p>Lexa nodded, she had seen the light coming from the girl’s little hands before after all and had felt the effects herself “How do you feel?” she questioned, still worried slightly. On a logical level, there was still absolutely no explanation as to how Marie could heal someone by touching them and that in her sleep as well.</p><p>“Good” Anya answered a little hesitant and her expression was clouded with anguish for a moment “The Mountain…” she began, but she shook her head subtly as if she was shooing away a painful memory and changed the subject suddenly “The invaders … we need them”.</p><p>Lexa furrowed her brows; it was more than obvious that Anya’s thoughts were in turmoil. She wanted to ask what her former mentor meant, when thunder suddenly began to rumble extremely loudly.</p><p>It seemed to only take a few seconds before the calm had changed into a near full-blown storm.</p><p>Marie had startled awake with a frightened shriek at the first flash of lightning. Her grey eyes were wide and she looked back and forth between Lexa and Anya for a few seconds, clearly overwhelmed with the change in their environment and the fact that Anya was visibly awake.</p><p>“Commander!” it already was shouted outside of the tent and Lexa sighed under her breath. She knew that the weather during this season tented to be unpredictable, but a storm was really the last thing they needed right now.</p><p>“Mommy…” Marie exclaimed in a slight whine, more confused than upset right now, as Lexa already got up.</p><p>“I will be right back, little one” Lexa assured the girl. Anya would be able to watch over Marie for a moment anyway.</p><p>Marie watched Lexa leave with a frown, clearly less than impressed with the woman going away and leaving her sight. Her frown turned into real dissent though, when Anya sat up next to her.</p><p>“Anya, hu’t!” Marie exclaimed in a slightly shrill tone, putting her small hands against the woman’s chest as if she was trying to push her back to lie down again “Anya, ‘est!” she repeated an order.</p><p>Anya knew though what this fast increase in wind meant. She could already hear a suddenly strong rain pelting down against the material of the tent. Lexa would undoubtedly already be giving the order to evacuate the village for now and for the people to seek shelter in the cave in the woods close to them.</p><p>The child’s feeble attempts to keep her resting were cute if anything and Anya was amused by them, as they let her forget the darkness of the Mountain still clouding her mind at least for a moment. The almost blinding burning sensation which had roused her, had long but faded and Anya was not experiencing any physical pain anymore.</p><p>“I am fine, little one” she assured the girl in an even tone, taking in the child’s worried expression fully. She had thought about Marie and Lexa during her captivity in the Mountain and she had been sure to never see either of them again. “Thanks to you” she added with a hint of amazement. Anya carefully reached out, placing a hand right over the bandage and applied some pressure on the area. Just as she had expected, there was no pain at all.</p><p>Marie was observing her with wide eyes though and it was obvious that the child was still worried immensely.</p><p>Anya could remember the sensation of being burnt before and she did not know, but she could imagine that Marie had already been present as someone had burnt the bullet wound shut for her before. It was no wonder that the child seemed upset now.</p><p>Marie gave a jump as the next bout of thunder growled above them and the child looked up at the top of the tent in fright.</p><p>“It is just a storm, little one, nothing to be afraid of” Anya tried to reassure her, using the moment of the child being distracted, to sit up fully.</p><p>“But…” Marie began, but ended in a shriek, when another flash of lightning followed with a loud booming noise interrupted her. She gave a real jump this time and instinctually sought shelter in Anya’s arms.</p><p>The general carefully closer her arms around the child’s clearly shaking body “Hush, it is only a storm” she calmly tried to sooth the little girl. Anya slid to the edge of the bed, getting up with Marie in her arms.</p><p>Lexa re-entered the tent a moment later, already going around the tent in a frenzy, picking up a few items here and there “We will leave for the caves in a moment” she proclaimed.</p><p>Anya nodded in acknowledgment as she had already been expecting this.</p><p>Getting Marie to let go of her for a moment, so that she could dress herself, brought the child to tears unfortunately.</p><p>Lexa tried her best to patiently direct the child’s arms into a warmer piece of clothing and get some shoes onto her feet, while the girl sniffled softly and shrieked with each new thunder or lightning.</p><p>Marie did not really seem to care all that much about who carried her, but it was clear that the girl needed the closer comfort of someone and she would never have been able to keep up with the brisk pace they immediately took up either. Anya ended up carrying the little girl, as Lexa was still somewhat busy with making sure that everything happened smoothly.</p><p>Although Anya was trying to keep the child as dry as possible, she saw that the child’s blonde hair was already plastered around her roundish features in wet locks. She was still trying to sooth the girl, as Marie still let out startled sounds of distress with each new rumble of thunder or boom of lightning. Anya did not know if she had ever experienced a storm before and their environment was too loud now to ask the little girl about it.</p><p>Lexa knew that Indra and her unit could not have made it to the rest of the invaders yet and she had given them orders to retreat if anything unexpected happened, so, she already expected that they would meet in the morning. She hoped that Anya would have told her by then why they would suddenly need the invaders alive.</p><p>She kept on shooting worried glances towards Anya. She had heard others question already how the general was with them now and not having an answer, felt unsettling to her.</p><p>Anya could already feel the little girl beginning to shiver after a few minutes and she had the dark foreboding that the child’s system would not be strong enough to fight off a sickness.</p>
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<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 36</p><p>The way to the caves thankfully passed quickly. The weather had been absolutely unrelenting.</p><p>Others had arrived at the caves before them and a fire had already been lit, which made the temperature in the cave mild.</p><p>While Lexa made sure, that everyone who had travelled with them through the forest, had reached the caves safely and now found a place to rest for the night, Anya tried to get Marie to let go of her.</p><p>The child’s little fists held on tightly to the general’s coat and Anya could feel that the child was crying still in her arms.</p><p>The storm was raging on outside and the young girl still shrieked with each loud rumble of thunder.</p><p>“Marie, look” Anya tried to prompt the blonde child to lift her head from her shoulder. The girl had been pressing her face against her shoulder, hiding herself from view and also not seeing anything of her surroundings. She wanted the child to see that there was nothing to fear anymore. No matter how strong the storm would continue to rage, they would be safe in the caves.</p><p>“Little one, we are safe now” Anya said in a soothing tone, rubbing over the little girl’s back once. She grimaced lightly at feeling how wet the child’s clothing was, sticking to her little body.</p><p>Marie did not move even a little bit though, only the fact that her little fists tightened their hold on her coat could be counted as a sign that the girl had heard her words at all.</p><p>The few seconds which had travelled with them were distributing furs through the cave.</p><p>Anya did not know if Lexa had thought to pack a change of clothes for the little girl. It was clear that the child needed to get out of the wet clothes.</p><p>After another few moments of prompting the girl to look around her, Marie was looking through the caves with her wide grey eyes.</p><p>Anya doubted that Marie had been in a cave yet at all and the little girl stretched out her little hands towards the ceiling of the cave with clear amazement in her eyes.</p><p>The girl’s amazement was broken though, when she suddenly sneezed loudly, her little body giving a strong shake in Anya’s arms.</p><p>The little girl was pulling a grimace, as if she was surprised by having to sneeze and she blinked a few times.</p><p>Anya shook her head at the little girl, seeing Lexa approach them from the entrance to the cave.</p><p>Thankfully, Alira had packed some clothes to change into for the little girl. The handmaid had given the bag to one of the seconds which had travelled with them and the young boy had just given it to the commander, stumbling over his words, obviously in aw at needing to speak to their leader in person.</p><p>“She seems to have gotten very wet” Lexa assessed, reaching out and placing a hand onto the little girl’s back with a worried expression.</p><p>Anya adjusted her grip on the child’s body, as Marie twisted in her arms to look over her shoulder to Lexa.</p><p>“Mommy!” the girl exclaimed in a joyful tone, stretching out her little arms towards the commander.</p><p>“Hello, little one” Lexa answered in a soft tone.</p><p>Anya could see how everyone in their vicinity seemed to freeze for a moment in what they were doing, looking at the commander with wide eyes.</p><p>Lexa did not seem fazed by their reactions though. The young leader kept her expression open and soft as she carried Marie to a pair of furs relatively close to the fire.</p><p>Anya followed the two of them as the little girl was keeping her grey eyes fixed on herself right over Lexa’s shoulder. She expected that the child might have actually called out to her soon. The general did not know what to think of it, but it was clear that the girl was not just connected to Lexa anymore, but also to herself.</p><p>Lexa had sat down cross-legged on one of the furs, letting the child stand in front of her, while she worked on getting the wet clothes from the girl’s body.</p><p>Although temperature in the cave was mild, Anya could see her shivering once Lexa had undressed her.</p><p>The child sneezed again and coughed a few times as well, while Lexa worked on drying Marie at least a little before she dressed her into a dry pair of clothes.</p><p>Lexa and Anya bandied slightly worried looks, both already sure that the girl was well on the way of getting sick. They both hoped that Marie would only have a mild cold.</p><p>The excitement of the evening had unfortunately hyped the little girl and it was impossible to convince Marie to lie down.</p><p>Once the girl had been dressed into dry clothes, it was obvious that she was feeling much better already. She seemed convinced now that the weather could not harm them either and she stopped shrieking at the thunder.</p><p>“Marie, don’t you want to sleep?” Lexa asked the girl. She held onto the child’s hips, while Marie was jumping about in front of her.</p><p>The little girl shook her head “Play!” she exclaimed in an almost shrill tone.</p><p>Lexa shook her head in the negative. It was already late and although the journey had been brief, she knew that the others in the cave would wish to sleep.</p><p>“I can tell you a story, little one” Anya offered from the fur next to them.</p><p>Lexa had just located the little plush wolf in the bag as well and she handed it over to Marie. The young girl immediately took hold of it, pulling the little toy to her chest with a smile, sneezing again.</p><p>Marie seemed to decide that the prospect of a story from Anya was appealing enough and the little girl willingly sat down next to the woman, looking up at her expectedly with big grey eyes.</p><p>The child sneezed again strongly, so strongly that the force of it nearly let her lose her balance. She rubbed under her nose with the back of her hand, grimacing at the wet slimy substance on her skin.</p><p>She pulled a grimace of disgust, holding her hand up towards Anya with her lower lip trembling.</p><p>Anya wiped the girl’s hand clean, also cleaning around her nose.</p><p>“Have you never been sick before, little one?” Lexa asked the blonde girl in slight confusion. The commander had pulled her own fur closer to Anya and was now sitting directly next to Marie.</p><p>The child looked over at Lexa and she seemed to try to remember if she had been sick before, but she shook her head in the negative after a moment.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath, feeling a dark foreboding settle in her gut at this information. She hoped that the girl was only remembering this wrong.</p><p>Anya noticed that Lexa’s obvious worry was affecting Marie and the little child seemed unsettled. She thus began telling the girl about how she had met Lexa as a child of about her age so many years ago now.</p><p>Lexa watched Marie listen to Anya’s words attentively, hanging onto the general’s every word, while she clutched the plush wolf to her chest.</p><p>As Anya told the story to Marie, she slowly eased the little girl into a lying position next to her.</p><p>Marie was curiously listening, but the story was not having the effect Anya had hoped for. The child continued to interrupt her, asking for a tiny detail, or looking over at Lexa for confirmation.</p><p>Anya lightly scolded the girl, completely lying down as well, so that the child could cuddle up to her. The position helped that the child finally settled down and gave a little yawn only a moment later.</p><p>Lexa watched the blonde girl fall asleep cuddled up to her former mentor with a slight smile. She had been convinced that the woman was lost. She could see within her brown eyes that whatever had transpired in the Mountain had unsettled her deeply. She doubted that she was only imagining Anya pulling the little girl closer once she had ended her story and Marie had long fallen asleep.</p><p>There would be time to speak with her about the Mountain once they were back in TonDC.  </p>
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<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 37</p><p>In the morning it was clear that Marie had fallen sick.</p><p>Anya woke up with the little girl’s body still pressed to hers and it felt as if the child’s body was burning like a fire. She knew that Marie was running a high fever. The girl’s clothes were damp with sweat and Anya could feel her own trousers clinging to her leg where Marie was cuddled to her.</p><p>Anya carefully scooted upwards, trying not to disturb the sleeping young child. She would not have needed to move so carefully though as Marie did not even move an inch. Anya furrowed her brows when she looked at the girl.</p><p>Marie’s skin was sweaty and her roundish cheeks were bright red as well, glowing with the heat of her fever. Anya did not need to reach out and touch them to verify that the girl was feverish.</p><p>“She is sick” Anya exclaimed, forgoing a “good morning” completely as she turned over to face Lexa.</p><p>The commander’s expression turned worried in the blink of a second. She had hoped that the little girl would not have caught something serious, but one glance at Marie was enough to judge that something more than a mere cold was wrong with her. The child had even appeared surprised last night by her own sneezing as if she had never had such a sickness before.</p><p>Lexa reached out, letting her hand rest momentarily on the girl’s sweaty forehead.</p><p>Marie’s eyelids fluttered a few times at the touch, but she did not wake up fully. She was sucking on one of her thumps and she let out an indistinguishable whine for a second, but settled again once Lexa removed her hand.</p><p>“She needs to be brought to TonDC” Lexa said worriedly. She knew that Nyko was not with them and she doubted that anyone would have packed anything needed to heal a sickness last night. Although the young leader looked merely worried, internally she was afraid. She knew just how deadly a strong sickness could be for a child as young as Marie.</p><p>The little girl did not wake up fully during the brief time it took for everyone to gather their belongings together. Although they would be travelling back slower now, as the storm had passed and the weather outside was once again calm and clear, it was obvious that Marie was not in the constitution to walk herself.</p><p>One of the seconds in the cave told the commander that her horse had found its way to the cave and was waiting for her. Lexa had not really been worried about her horse. She knew that the animals’ instincts drove them to seek shelter.</p><p>Anya had wrapped Marie into the fur under which the girl had been sleeping as she seemed to shiver. The general carried the young child to the entrance of the tent, where Lexa was greeting her horse.</p><p>Although she had not been worried, Lexa had wanted to make sure that her horse had not been injured somehow. The commander went around her black mare once, letting her gaze flit over it, before she clapped onto its strong flank in mute greeting.</p><p>Lexa mounted her horse quickly and waited for Anya to hand over the little girl to her, adjusting her grip so that the child could not fall down. She looked down at Marie for a moment. It worried her that the girl did not even seem to notice how she was handed over. Her body seemed limp and although her grey eyes were not fully closed, she did not seem to look at anything.</p><p>Lexa spurred her horse into a quick trot. The weather had calmed and she knew that her horse would find its way safely through the forest.</p><p>Marie did not show any reaction to the horse speeding up. Lexa tightened her grip on the little girl, holding her steady and safe.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>The way back to TonDC passed by quickly and Lexa immediately noticed just how much damage the storm had done to the village.</p><p>Nyko’s hut thankfully seemed untouched by the storm. Lexa had to find out though that the healer himself was not present in the village. The man had left yesterday to help in a smaller village close by and had not been seen since then.</p><p>The child’s fever seemed to only rise though and Lexa didn’t’ know how to help Marie.</p><p>As if the storm had just passed by the commander’s tent, there did not seem to be any visible damage done to it. Lexa carried the child into the tent with quick steps, leaving her horse alone. Someone would surely tend to it later.</p><p>Lexa placed the child on her big bed. The fur which was wrapped around Marie appeared moist with sweat and Lexa quickly removed it, replacing it with a clean one. She gently brushed a few sweaty blonde locks from the child’s hot forehead “Little one?” she addressed the girl questioningly.</p><p>The child did not show any noticeably reaction though and Lexa felt her heart sink in growing worry.</p><p>Lexa walked up and down the length of the tent a few times, unsure of what to do. She finally decided that it could definitely not harm to make the child drink some water and place a cool cloth onto her forehead.</p><p>Urging the delirious child to drink something proofed to be harder than she had anticipated though.</p><p>Marie made little noises of protest at the back of her throat, feebly trying to push the cup from her face, before she just turned onto her side, curling together into a small ball.</p><p>Lexa sat down next to the child, gently rubbing over her back with one hand, while she tried to dab at the girl’s sweaty forehead with a wet cloth.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa did not know just how long it took until the tent flap was opened again and Anya came inside, thankfully in Alira’s company. She knew that the handmaid also had at least some healing knowledge and Lexa felt reassured that someone was there now who could take care of Marie and help her feel better.</p><p>Lexa stood up from the bed mutely. Anya had obviously already told Alira that Marie was sick and the handmaid immediately got to work.</p><p>The commander and general watched from the side-line how Alira removed the fur from Marie’s body. Carefully feeling along the child’s throat and the woman leaned closer to Marie’s face, listening to her breathing which seemed to rattle alarmingly by now.</p><p>Alira left the commander’s tent for a few moments, collecting healing herbs from Nyko’s hut to prepare a paste for the girl’s chest and a tea. Together with some herbs to put into bathing water which would help her breathe easier.</p><p>“She doesn’t appear really awake” Anya assessed in a worried tone. She pulled out the wolf plushie from her coat. The little girl must have let go of it during the night and Anya had found it on the ground of the cave next to their furs. It only deepened her worry that Marie did not reach out for the toy at all. So, Anya just placed the wolf plushie next to the child on the bed, letting it wait for Marie.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>There was little which Anya and Lexa could do to help while Alira took care of Marie. It was obvious that the child’s sickness was serious. Once Marie had been bathed, forced to drink a tea and her chest was lathered with the herb paste, Alira re-dressed her into clean and dry clothes, tucking her back into bed. The handmaid told the commander that they now would need to wait. If the girl’s fever did not break soon, they would need to start to try and bring down her temperature with cold baths.</p><p>Anya decided to stay in the commander’s tent for the time being. She still needed to tell Lexa about the horrors she had seen and experienced in the Mountain.</p><p>They ended up sitting next to Marie in the bed, occasionally reaching out to touch the little girl lying there.</p><p>Lexa felt her anger at the Mountain Men rise with each word the general told her. She did not comment when Anya’s brown eyes seemed to get blank and she stopped for a moment, telling her about being encaged there, reaching out and placing a hand on Marie’s quivering shoulder hidden under the blanket.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Hours later the child’s fever seemed to only has risen and she had started to cough. Her breathing which had sounded a little rattled before, now was definitely laboured.</p><p>Lexa didn’t like at all how the child cried when she and Anya bathed her in lukewarm water to bring down her temperature. Marie tried to get out of the water and Lexa felt horrible having to physically hold her down. She apologised to the little girl every few moments, but she doubted that the girl was realizing it at all.</p><p>Although Alira had offered to prepare another sleeping place for the little girl, Lexa denied the offer. She lied down next to the child long hours later, listening to her laboured breathing with a heavy heart, whispering to her a few times “Fight, my little one”.</p>
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<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 38</p><p>Anya had left the commander’s tent to return to her own. Thanks to Marie’s unexpected healing talent, her physical wounds from the Mountain and from being shot by Skaikru were healed and there was no logical reason to stay the night in the commander’s tent.</p><p>Anya could have easily named a bunch of other reasons. The little girl’s presence had diverted her attention and even though Lexa and she had mostly just watched Marie sleep, it had calmed her inexplicitly while she had told the horrors of the Mountain to the commander.</p><p>As she laid down in her tent, Anya felt her breath quickening only a few moments later after she closed her eyes. No matter how much she tried to discipline her thoughts, flashes of the Mountain kept on playing out as if she was back there.</p><p>She also felt Tris’ absence even more now. After the loss of her second, she had not had a quiet moment yet to truly let the grieve over the young girl settle in. Tris had been a good second and a really talented fighter. She would have made a fine warrior one day.</p><p>Anya tried to force herself to fall asleep and she was stubborn enough to indeed wait long enough that she drifted off. The memories of the Mountain followed her into her sleep though and Anya gave up on sleeping in the middle of the night. She pushed the furs away from her body with a frustrated huff. She knew that she needed sleep, but her breathing was still slightly irregular from the nightmare which had woken her up.</p><p>She quickly slipped into her boots and put on her coat, before she stepped outside of the tent.</p><p>It was dark outside and stars were visible in the dark sky. Anya could see a few shadows lurking around the edge of the forest, but she knew them to be guards which patrolled around TonDC. Lexa had heightened the security measures even further with more invaders lurking around and the increased activity of the Mountain Men was also worrying.</p><p>Anya slowly walked through TonDC without having any clear destination in mind. Her feet did carry her subconsciously towards the commander’s tent though and Anya could hear that Lexa was awake. Marie was obviously awake again and crying rather loudly.</p><p>The guard at the commander’s tent did not even ask for permission before he let Anya step inside.</p><p>Lexa was walking up and down the tent with Marie in her arms. The little girl was obviously grouchy and crying. The commander seemed surprised for a moment to spot Anya coming closer, but Anya did also not miss the flash of relieve within the younger woman’s green eyes.</p><p>Anya guessed that Lexa had been trying to settle Marie for some time now and was obviously having little success with it.</p><p>“She woke up from a fevered dream” Lexa explained and her voice was underlined with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration. For a brief moment, she felt the child’s forehead and as she removed her hands, she gently brushed a few sweaty strands of blonde hair from the girl’s forehead.</p><p>Marie was very obviously not pleased to be carried around. The girl was squirming in Lexa’s arms, leaning away from the commander’s touch with a disgruntled sound.</p><p>Anya just wanted to say something, when Marie leaned closer to Lexa for a moment. It seemed the little girl did not seem to know what she wanted in her own discomfort, as she immediately tried to push herself away again.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath, trying to adjust her grip on the little girl “She keeps on doing this” she said, voice now clearly frustrated “As soon as I try to lie her down in the bed, she begins to cry again”.</p><p>“Is she feverish again?” Anya asked, stepping closer to Lexa and Marie, gently reaching out and placing a hand on the little girl’s neck. She grimaced slightly when the child’s skin was most definitely too hot and also slightly slick with sweat “Maybe another bath will help to bring down her temperature”.</p><p>Lexa was visibly conflicted for a moment, before she inclined her head in agreement. Although she had not liked at all just how much Marie had hated the previous cold bath, it had clearly helped her for some time at least to feel better. She did not know if she would get Marie to sleep at all again if her fever would not fall and Lexa knew that the best the child could be doing right now was to sleep and allow her body the chance to recover.</p><p>Anya helped Lexa in undressing Marie. Although the child appeared the slightest bit more coherent, Anya was not convinced this was a good development. Now, the little girl kept on repeating a “no” at everything which they did.</p><p>“wa’t oouut” Marie kept on slurring while Anya made sure that the child remained submerged in the water.</p><p>Lexa had shortly stepped away from the bath tub and was searching for a set of dry clothes to change the child into afterwards.</p><p>Both of them breathed out in relieve once Marie’s temperature was obviously falling and they could finally lift the little girl out of the water again.</p><p>Lexa quickly enveloped Marie in a towel and dried her off. The child appeared sleepy all of a sudden and Lexa had to keep one hand on the child’s shoulder to keep her standing upright. She still did not like just how laboured the girl’s breathing sounded and she really hoped that she would get well soon.</p><p>It did not fail her notice how drawn Anya’s expression appeared. The older woman did not appear as if she had found any restful sleep yet and Lexa could imagine why she was here. She highly doubted that Anya would communicate how she felt, but she could just offer to her to stay for a while.</p><p>Once Anya helped her in dressing Marie, Lexa tried to make her offer.</p><p>“I would prefer if you will stay here until she is better” Lexa said offhandedly, not making eye contact with her general while she spoke, but rather focusing on getting Marie dressed into a pair of lose trousers. She knew that it was unlikely that her former mentor would admit to having problems with sleep now. She would never admit to something which could be considered a weakness like this.</p><p>Anya was visibly surprised by the commander’s offer, but she was fairly quick to agree with a mere mute incline of her head.</p><p>Marie coughed hard a few times. Her small frame was shaken so strong, that Lexa had to steady her.</p><p>“I will make her a new tea” Anya said quickly. Her brown eyes compassionate at the child’s pitiful expression.</p><p>Lexa nodded, while she quickly finished dressing the little girl again. She waited for a moment if the child wished to stay standing or not.</p><p>But Marie mutely held up her arms towards Lexa, her grey eyes looked tired and pleading.</p><p>Lexa picked the girl up and let her wind her short legs around her waist. The drew a few soothing circles on the child’s back, once Marie let her head rest against her shoulder and she began to cough again. “You will feel better soon, little one” Lexa tried to encourage the girl. She hoped that they would not need to repeat this treatment too often either.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya ended up sleeping on the ground of the commander’s tent. No one of them had wanted to ask a handmaid to prepare an extra bedding in the middle of the night.</p><p>Lexa had actually needed a few moments of arguing to convince Anya to at least take two furs from her big bed, that she could lie down on one and cover herself with the other.</p><p>The general had just rolled her eyes. She has slept in far more uncomfortable places. She shuddered for a moment as she immediately thought of the small cages in the Mountain. Even sleeping outside without any furs or cover would be more comfortable.</p><p>Lexa’s and Marie’s presence in close proximity was enough for Anya to fall asleep again, while the little girl had immediately drifted off into an exhausted sleep.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie’s constitution remained bad for the next two days and Lexa was indeed more than thankful for Anya being there in the commander’s tent with her.</p><p>The situation with the invaders needed her attention as well, no matter if she wished to just be there for Marie or not.</p><p>Indra’s unit had received her message to not carry out the attack on the invaders’ camp in time as she had hoped and the dark-skinned warrior had made the way back to TonDC with their warriors after seeking shelter from the storm.</p><p>Lexa had tried to keep the needed meetings down to an absolute minimum, but she was already trying to reasonable convince her generals that the invaders may indeed be needed for now. She knew that she could just force her warriors to accept a peace contract with the invaders, but she also knew that it would be much easier if her warriors shared her opinion on the matter.</p><p>Lexa knew that they would need to make contact with the invaders again soon, but she did not wish to break the camp now. She would either need to leave Marie back in TonDC or take the sick child with her and she highly doubted that travelling would be safe for the little girl.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa and Anya both were immensely relieved when Marie woke up on the third day obviously feeling worlds better.</p><p>The child woke up before Lexa and Anya did and she crawled over to Lexa, watching the woman for a moment. She reached out and gently touched one of Lexa’s closed eyelids “Mommy wake” she said in a high tone.</p><p>Lexa was immediately wide awake, but she needed a second to understand that the girl was kneeling in front of her with a smile on her lips and her grey eyes were awake again. “Good morning, little one” Lexa answered in a kind tone, just relieved that the child was obviously finally recovering.</p>
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<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 39</p><p>The little girl still was coughing every few minutes and her nose remained stuffy and runny, but it was more than obvious that she felt better. The child’s energy level seemed to have returned almost back to normal as well.</p><p>Lexa was not sure if Marie should not better continue to rest for a few more days, just to be on the safe side. She smiled at the little girl, relived to see the child awake and coherent again. Lexa felt the exhaustion of the last days in her body and mind.</p><p>Marie coughed for a moment, kneeling next to Lexa with her plush wolf already in her arms. Her coughing woke up Anya finally as well. The general had continued to sleep on the ground in the commander’s tent for the last few days.</p><p>“Anya!” Marie squealed in a high chirped tone as soon as the older woman sat up.</p><p>Before Lexa could try to stop the little girl, Marie had gotten to her feet and made one jump towards Anya.</p><p>The general was just quick enough to catch the child, before Marie could hurt herself.</p><p>Lexa and Anya both had the same expression of almost worried shock on their faces, while Marie laughed happily.</p><p>“You have made quiet the recovery, Marie” Anya assessed in a relieved tone, feeling the child’s forehead for a slight moment.</p><p>Marie immediately moved away though, shaking her head. The child remembered that she had been held in bed for several days now and she did not want to lie down again “Play, Anya!” she demanded in a chirpy tone.</p><p>Lexa shook her head while she got up from the bed “Not now, little one, breakfast first” she said, stretching out her hand towards the blonde child.</p><p>Marie looked up at the woman with her wide grey eyes for a moment, before she finally stretched out her little hand and let herself be guided away from the bed. The child did seem to be in a very good mood and the young girl obviously was neither interested in washing herself, trying to get away from Lexa only wanting to help her, nor afterwards in eating breakfast.</p><p>“Marie, you need to eat something” Anya tried to persuade the child. Her patience was slowly waning thin with the blonde girl.</p><p>“No oa’meal” Marie answered back shaking her head quiet vehemently.</p><p>Lexa sighed under her breath; she had still been preparing a tea which ought to help Marie with her coughing. She already doubted though that the child would be easily convinced to drink it at all.</p><p>“Commander” Gustus called out from the entrance of the tent, interrupting Lexa.</p><p>Lexa placed the cup with the steaming tea in front of Anya, nodding towards her former mentor. She knew that she had almost neglected her duties as the commander all the while the little girl’s sickness.</p><p>“Marie” Anya tried to get the blonde child’s attention, moving the spoon in front of her sight.</p><p>Marie though did not seem interested at all, but immediately wanted to follow Lexa “Mommy!” she exclaimed loudly, as soon as Lexa moved to the entrance of the tent.</p><p>Lexa only shortly turned back, shaking her head at the child “You will stay with Anya for a moment, little one” she said in a kind but decisive tone “I will return shortly”.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Anya sighed under her breath. Marie’s smile had vanished almost completely as soon as Lexa left the tent.</p><p>“Marie” Anya repeated the girl’s name. When the child just continued to stare at the now again closed tent flap, Anya snapped her fingers once in front of Marie’s face, startling the little girl stronger than she had anticipated.</p><p>The child appeared rebuked though and surprisingly let herself easily be convinced now to eat. Getting her to drink the tea was harder though.</p><p>“EEwww…” Marie said once Anya made her drink from the tea. Her features pulled into a disgusted grimace “Yucky…” she exclaimed, shaking herself.</p><p>Anya could not help herself but began to laugh at the child’s very clear expression of disgust. “There is more of it left, little one” she teased with a slight laugh.</p><p>Marie pulled a face, staring at the cup with a full-blown pout. “Go ‘n play?” she asked in a hopeful tone, giving the general her best expression of puppy-eyes.</p><p>“Not yet” Anya denied with a slight smile, trying to curb her amusement at the child’s badly conducted attempts at manipulating her “You will eat at least half of this and you need to drink more from the tea. Then you can play”.</p><p>Marie pouted for a moment “Go out ‘n play?” she asked, looking back and forth between Anya and the food and the tea on the table.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>When Lexa returned to the commander’s tent, Marie was still slowly eating her oatmeal. Nearly after every new spoonful, the child had asked “Play now?”.</p><p>At seeing Lexa, Marie completely disregarded her breakfast “Mommy back!” she squealed happily.</p><p>Lexa smiled gently at the child, walking over to the table and feeling the child’s forehead for a fleeting moment. “No fever” she assessed in a relieved tone “The camp will be broken in the hour” she proclaimed to Anya. She had decided after hearing the newest report on the invaders, that she could not prolong leaving TonDC to speak in person to the invaders. The reports had said clearly that they were strengthening their defences and although there was no doubt that they would never be strong enough to outnumber them, she wanted to speak with them now about making peace to bring down the Mountain together.</p><p>“P’ay now?” Marie interrupted Lexa’s train of thought in her childish tone. Lexa let the girl stand up, nodding to her.</p><p>“Mommy, p’ay?” the child hesitated for a moment in front of Lexa, but the woman shook her head.</p><p>“Not now, little one” Lexa denied with a smile “I need to prepare things as well”.</p><p>Anya remained in the commander’s tent, keeping Marie occupied while Lexa bustled around the tent. She knew that Alira had already taught the child a few numbers in Trigedasleng and Anya repeated the easy dice game with the girl.</p><p>Anya wondered how Marie’s presence would influence the undoubtedly difficult negotiations. The child seemed totally undisturbed by tensions around her and she claimed Lexa’s attention whenever she felt like it. They had not spoken about where Marie would be, but Anya was almost that Lexa would wish to keep the child close to her.</p><p>Anya pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration when Marie began to throw a tantrum though only a short time later. The only reason had been that their game had been called to an end by Lexa and the younger woman had wanted to dress the child in warmer clothes, before they would need to go.</p><p>It was hard to get the child dressed, while Marie was crying and not cooperating at all.</p><p>The girl only began to quite down a little again once she was dressed and Lexa had just pulled the girl into her arms, walking up and down the length of the tent. Marie had begun to suck on her thumb, lying her head on the commander’s shoulder, appearing tired all of a sudden.</p><p>“Hush, my little one, everything is fine” Lexa continued to sooth the child further, gently rubbing the girl’s back.</p>
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<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 40</p><p>Anya had prewarned Lexa of what had happened once she and Clarke had approached the camp of the invaders. The general knew that the situation now was largely different. She had been alone with Clarke in the dark of the night, approaching without cover and caution. Now, there would be a small army travelling with them. The invaders would be stupid to attack them out of the blue.</p><p>Marie had slept through the first part of the journey. Although Gustus had offered to take the child for Lexa, the commander had naturally refused, keeping the sleeping little girl in her own arms. The warriors which travelled with them had already seen Marie often enough by now, that they didn’t show a strong reaction to the girl’s intimate position.</p><p>The child actually just began to move within Lexa’s arms, shortly before they arrived at the make-shift camp, Indra and her warriors had constructed not far from the settlement of the invaders. Lexa knew that the man she had spoken with, Markus Kane, was also still retained there.</p><p>Marie yawned wholeheartedly once she woke up, breaking out into another coughing fit as soon as she did so.</p><p>Anya who was leading her own steed next to Lexa’s looked over at the blonde child in worry. They had not arrived at their goal yet, so there would not be a possibility to make more tea for the girl currently. Marie would need to wait around another hour or so.</p><p>Lexa rubbed over the child’s back, clapping on it lightly, hoping to ease the child’s obvious breathing difficulties.</p><p>Once Marie could breathe again, her roundish cheeks had turned red with the effort of coughing for a few moments. Her features clearly showed how discontent the child was feeling.</p><p>Lexa felt sorry for her and that there was nothing which she could really do to make her feel better. She twisted around a little, holding the child with one arm secure, while she blindly felt for the girl’s plush wolf in her saddle bag. She had put it in there so that it would not get lost during their ride while Marie was asleep.</p><p>Once Marie saw that Lexa was pulling her toy from the saddleback, she already tried to reach for it.</p><p>Anya watched Marie snuggling the toy to her chest with the slight hint of a smile on her pouty mouth. Marie seemed to sense without being told, that they would not be stopping any time soon and the child settled herself more comfortably against Lexa’s chest again.</p><p>As Lexa put her coat around the girl as well to cover her and keep her warmer, Marie lied down her head against her shoulder, looking over at Anya with her wide grey eyes, while she again sucked on her thumb.</p><p>The more comfortable position did not bring Marie to sleep again though and the child quickly became bored, beginning to wiggle around.</p><p>Anya was not so sure if the child was just bored or if something else may be the matter altogether. Their travels had been going on for a few hours now already.</p><p>“Little one, we will not stop for some time yet” Lexa tried to explain in a gentle tone, when her horse began to show reactions to Marie not keeping still in the saddle any longer.</p><p>Marie visibly pulled a face at that, pouting strongly. She did not stop moving though, it actually only seemed to increase with time.</p><p>“Marie, you need to be a little…” Lexa tried to rebuke the child in a gentle tone, holding the reigns a little tighter to keep her horse in line.</p><p>Anya shook her head at her former second though, sensing what would most likely be the matter instead. “Your little one most likely needs to relive herself” she interrupted Lexa’s rebuke.</p><p>Lexa blinked in honest surprise. She had truly not thought about this being a possibility, but of course the child had slept for a few hours now and had gotten a tea for breakfast.</p><p>“I can take her” Anya offered easily. Marie seemed a little confused to be handed over to the general like that.</p><p>Anya lead her horse slightly away from the warriors following them, fastening her horse to a tree at the edge of the trail. She got down from her horse quickly, holding the girl up for a moment, before she pulled her down as well.</p><p>Anya had to laugh at the child visibly having problems walking as if her little legs had gotten stiff. She knew though that Marie could not be used to riding a horse, so, her muscles would get used to the posture sooner or later.</p><p>She led Marie a little into the forest, telling the child to go ahead and relive herself. She planned to do the same taking the chance of the brief pause as well.</p><p>Marie remained standing unsurely though where Anya had left her, not moving an inch.</p><p>“You needed to pee, didn’t you?” Anya checked with a raised brow when she noticed that Marie had most definitely not finished during her short absence.</p><p>“But …” Marie began with a pout, looking around herself with a lost expression on her roundish features “… no toi’et” she added.</p><p>Anya rolled her eyes at the little girl “Just go somewhere, Marie” she said, getting a little impatient to get back.</p><p>Marie pouted though “Whe’e?” she questioned in a whiny tone.</p><p>Anya finally just pointed the girl to a random location, waiting for a moment until Marie had finished.</p><p>The general wanted to get back to her horse, while Marie had noticed a butterfly on a tree bark next to them. For the brief moment that Anya had let go of the child’s hand and turned away, so that Marie could relive herself in private, the child had finished and moved over to the butterfly.</p><p>When Anya looked back around, wanting to tell the girl that they really needed to get going now, the child was nowhere in sight and Anya felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. She had only looked away for a few moments, so, the child could not have moved away far yet.</p><p>Anya cursed herself a fool under her breath. She knew that she needed to find Marie immediately. The child had zero knowledge of the woods. She could also not defend herself and would most likely run blindly into each and every trap hidden in the forest.</p><p>They were close enough both to the Mountain and the invaders’ settlement, that Marie could not just cross paths with a predator but with one of them as well.</p><p>“Marie!” she called out, searching for signs of where the child had disappeared to.</p><p>Anya thankfully picked up the child’s trail easily. She sighed under her breath, when she finally caught sight of the child. Marie showed no reaction to her name being called; the little girl’s attention was focused completely on the butterfly slowly flying away from her. The child was following the butterfly with a bright smile, trying to reach out and touch the butterfly.</p><p>Anya quickened her step, catching up with the little girl and reaching out to hold her unexpectedly. Marie had not even noticed her approach. It angered Anya internally that the child obviously was far from being cautious at all.</p><p>“Marie, do NOT ever run away again like this” Anya lectured the girl in a stern tone, holding onto one of her wrists with a slight force.</p><p>Marie looked utterly startled. “Butte’f’y” she pointed towards the butterfly just getting out of sight as she did so, an innocent look on her features.</p><p>Anya sighed deeply, loosening her grip on Marie’s wrists immediately. Lexa and she would quickly need to figure out a way on how to teach Marie of the dangers of the new world around herself. Otherwise such scenes would likely keep on repeating themselves endlessly.</p><p>“Anya ang’y?” Marie asked in a clearly unsure tone, biting at her lower lip and lowering her sight to her feet.</p><p>“No, little one” Anya shook her head, gentling her expression again, as she pulled the girl up into her arms. They had wasted enough time already and she did not wish to worry Lexa with their prolonged absence. She would not put it beyond the commander to come searching for Marie in person if they didn’t return soon. “I am not angry at you; I was worried that something had happened to you” she tried to explain to the child.</p><p>Marie seemed to contemplate the general’s words carefully “Wo’ied?” she echoed confusedly.</p><p>“Yes, worried. You could have run into a predator or fell and hurt yourself. You cannot move out of sight in the forest without protection” Anya added in a kind tone.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Lexa had indeed already been worried. The commander had gotten impatient and Gustus already offered to fall back and look for Anya, wanting to prevent their young leader from doing so herself.</p><p>Lexa breathed easier again, once she noticed Anya hurrying her brown horse to catch up with Marie sitting in front of the general, laughing loudly at the quicker ride.</p><p>“Mommy!” Marie quipped up as soon as they had reached Lexa’s side again, immediately wanting to get back to the commander.</p><p>Anya wanted to tell Lexa that Marie would need to get used to being with her as well when Lexa was around, but Lexa had already let go of her reigns, waiting to receive the child back.</p><p>“The’e wa’ a butte’f’y, mommy” Marie told Lexa excitedly only a moment later. Her grey eyes shining with joy.</p>
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<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 41</p><p>Anya found it quiet amusing to observe Marie telling Lexa about her little excitement with following the butterfly. It was absolutely clear that the child had a wrong perception of the dangers of the forest.</p><p>Although Lexa was smiling and nodding at the child animatedly telling her the story of her little adventure, Anya did not miss the quick worried glance her former second threw in her direction, Marie did miss it completely though.</p><p>Their own children at Marie’s age already knew about the numerous dangers surrounding them and Marie would need to learn about them soon as well.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Thankfully Marie remained relatively quiet and easy to handle during the rest of the ride even though the child did not fall asleep again. The girl appeared fascinated by their surroundings and her wide grey eyes flitted over the trees they bypassed continuously.</p><p>Lexa kept the girl securely in place even when Marie tried to stretch out and pluck a leave from a twig hanging particularly low. The girl giggled when she missed the leaves and the branch softly brushed over her hair.</p><p>Marie turned completely silent as soon as they arrived at Indra’s camp. The dark-skinned warrior already awaited their arrival and Marie was obviously intimidated by the woman.</p><p>Lexa wanted to speak to Markus Kane as soon as possible. She planned to have the man brought to the border of the invaders’ settlement so that he could already proclaim that she wished to speak to the invaders’ leader upon her arrival.</p><p>So, Anya ended up alone with Marie for a while. A large tent had already been prepared for the commander and they had both almost mutely agreed that the general would continue to reside with them for the time being.</p><p>Marie was fidgety though while Anya tried to get the child to eat something.</p><p>“Marie, Lexa will come back soon” Anya kept her tone friendly, but she was trying to hold on to her patience. The girl did not seem interested in the food in front of her at all and she had insisted on keeping her toy wolf sitting on an extra chair next to her.</p><p>The child thus far had only been pushing the food around on her plate and Anya saw that she had already pushed a few smaller items from her plate as well in the process.</p><p>The child’s handling of her utensils was clumsy at best, but Marie had protested immediately when Anya offered to help her.</p><p>Anya sighed under her breath, when Marie finally managed to get some food onto her spoon, but instead of eating it herself, the little blonde girl brought it over to the wolf plushie.</p><p>“Wolf, hung’y, too” Marie exclaimed in a high-pitched tone when she noticed how Anya was watching her with a slight disparaging expression.</p><p>“Of course” Anya retorted trying not to roll her eyes at this non-sense “are you not hungry?” she added in a questioning tone.</p><p>Marie honestly seemed to have to think about that question for a moment, before she just shrugged and smiled widely, beginning to finally duck in with gusto as if she was nearly starving.</p><p>Anya blinked in astonishment as she watched the girl now literally shovel down the food.</p><p>Lexa joined them some time later after she had spoken with Markus Kane. The dark-haired man had appeared absolutely relieved to hear that he would be able to tell his people that there would be talks about peace between both of their people.</p><p>Marie immediately stopped in the middle of her playing once Lexa entered the tent, smiling brightly at the commander and exclaiming a loud joyful “mommy!”.</p><p>The girl jumped up from her chair, hurrying over to Lexa. Right in front of the woman though, the child seemed to trip over her own feet. Lexa was just quick enough to catch the girl and pull her up into her arms, twirling her around once, eliciting a loud giggle from the blonde child.</p><p>The meeting with the Sky people would take place tomorrow. Anya and Lexa both knew that it was important that they made peace to bring down the Mountain together.</p><p>Marie of course did not know anything about what was going on. The child thus kept of them occupied for a few more hours. As the blonde girl had slept through part of their journey, she was full of excess energy now and although it was starting to get late, there was no thinking of trying to put her to bed.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>“No ti’ed” Marie argued in a whiny tone when Lexa finally tried to get the child ready for bed “Play mo’e” the girl said, moving away from Lexa when the commander wanted to put her into her sleeping clothes.</p><p>Anya shook her head at the girl’s antics, standing up from her cot of furs and trying to intercept the child.</p><p>Marie did see this as a game now though, trying to run away from the general with a shrill laugh.</p><p>Lexa was simply watching Anya’s look of puzzlement at Marie actually running away from her grasp with an amused smile. She was amazed actually when Anya did not react annoyed, but instead seemed to accept this kind of game, slowly following behind the child “Going to get you”.</p><p>Marie squealed joyfully at that, running around the table in the middle of the tent, looking over her shoulder a few times, checking that the general was still trying to catch her.</p><p>Lexa knew that Anya of course could have already caught the child easily and was only humouring her, but it was another kind of heart warming to see her former mentor just play for a moment freely with the little child although both of them were a little uneasy about the upcoming day. Having the girl with them here now, was diverting both of their minds.</p><p>Lexa was not sure yet if it would be wise to take the girl to the meeting tomorrow, but it seemed that Marie indeed preferred to be within her vicinity. The Sky people would know by now that Marie was with them now.</p>
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<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Chapter 42</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 42</p><p>The night thankfully went by more or less peacefully and once Anya had finally ended their little game, Marie let herself be changed and washed without protest. The little blonde girl even fell asleep quickly without trying to argue to stay up longer.</p><p>Lexa and Anya had stayed up a while longer, lowly discussing the upcoming meeting between them, while Marie slumbered peacefully with the wolf toy clutched to her chest.</p><p>Truthfully, both of them of course did not know for sure if the Sky people indeed would be able to come up with a solution on how to bring down the Mountain and for now, this was the only interest Lexa had in those people. She believed her general that Clarke’s intention to free her friends from the Mountain were genuine, but it would be foolish to assume that all of the Sky people were willing to work together.</p><p>Blood had already been shed on both sides and Lexa knew already that the tensions would be running high on both sides.</p><p>When Lexa lied down next to the sleeping girl, Marie sighed under her breath and without opening her eyes, the child inched closer to her, until Lexa relented and fully pulled her smaller body into a one-sided embrace. The corners of her lips tilted upwards when the girl adjusted her position by wiggling around a little a moment later until her head rested on one of her shoulders.</p><p>In the morning Lexa woke up before Marie and the child was still cuddled to her in exactly the same position as they had fallen asleep last night. Lexa remained lying on the bed with the slumbering child for a few more peaceful moments, just feeling the little girl’s soft breathing ghost over her collarbone. She let one of her hands trail over the girl’s back a few times, gently rousing the child from her sleep.</p><p>Marie squirmed in place for a few seconds as she woke up again. Her features had pulled into a slight grimace at being woken, but once her large grey eyes fluttered open and her gaze connected with Lexa’s, Marie gave the woman a cute wide smile, broadcasting the gap between her front teeth.</p><p>“Good morning, little one” Lexa greeted the child in a soft tone, still caressing over the child’s back.</p><p>“G’d mo’ng” the child’s words were even more slurred than they usually were right now.</p><p>Lexa stopped her caressing motions when she noticed Marie’s eyes dropping close again and she shook her head at the girl with an amused expression “It is time to get up now, not to fall back asleep” she explained kindly.</p><p>Marie pouted for a moment, pulling her wolf plushie closer to her chest and letting her eyes close again, curling herself together next to Lexa’s side.</p><p>Lexa laughed lightly at the child’s little burst of defiance. She just pulled a fur over her little body though and climbed out of the bed above her. There was no harm in letting the child lie in bed for a while longer anyway.</p><p>Anya had just sat up in her own furs on the ground and the general was watching the two of them with slightly narrowed eyes, probably displeased that the little girl was so blatantly disobeying.</p><p>Lexa did not pay her former mentor any mind now though and mutely moved over to the bathing area of the tent, choosing to just go ahead and get ready for the day. She had already decided that she would meet with the Sky people in full commander regalia including war paint. They did not have peace yet and she needed to show those invaders her strength right from the beginning. Her people demanded retribution for the blood which had been shed already between both of their people and if the talks did not go well, it would be hard to get them to work together.</p><p>Lexa thought about the meeting while she got ready, not listening to what was going on in the other part of the tent.</p><p>Marie seemed to have disliked being left in the bed alone and Lexa fought off a laugh at spotting the child sitting with Anya on the floor, also beneath the general’s furs.</p><p>Anya had told the child about a waterfall being close by and the little girl continued to ask to see it now.</p><p>Lexa watched the little girl trying to plead with Anya in silence for a moment, unnoticed by Anya as well for now. The general was surprisingly kind with the child. Lexa was certain that her former mentor already would have long told her to shut up if she had continued to pester her like this. She took sympathy in Anya being so gentle with the little girl though and called for Marie’s attention by clearing her throat.</p><p>“Come on Marie, I will help you wash up” Lexa addressed the girl kindly.</p><p>Marie’s head immediately whirled around and she smiled at the commander. There was not a moment of hesitation now in the girl getting up and following her order without any kind of protest.</p><p>The child had indeed grown comfortable enough with Lexa now, that she wanted to be handed the washcloth to try and wash herself.</p><p>Lexa still stayed with the girl, sitting on the edge of the bathing tube, pointing out gently when Marie obviously missed a spot as she watched the child. In the end, Lexa was required to help Marie brush her teeth though as the blonde girl barely had cleaned her front teeth before she already told Lexa that she was done.</p><p>Breakfast went over in relative peace as well. Alira had joined them to redo Lexa’s braids. Marie had taken a slight liking to the older woman and was happy to see that breakfast again included a small sweet pastry just for her.</p><p>Marie was not amused though when Anya quiet clearly told her that starting breakfast with the sweet treat was not an option and that she needed to first eat something more substantial and healthier.</p><p>“But t’eat is mo’e tasty” Marie tried to argue with Anya, holding the sweet pastry already in her hand.</p><p>Anya gave the child a warning glare, but she did not need to add any verbal warning as Indra entered the commander’s tent just now as well and Marie’s protests immediately died out. One more stern gaze was enough to get Marie to drop the pastry back onto her plate and start eating something else mutely, not looking up at Indra at all.</p><p>Indra was obviously not very impressed with Lexa’s intention to let Marie be present during the talk with the invaders.</p><p>Lexa knew that she could as well leave Marie in the commander’s tent with Alira, but she sensed that it might be helpful for the Sky people to see that the little girl had been treated well here.</p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p>Marie watched in interest once Lexa and Anya changed into their clothes and both applied war paint to their features.</p><p>Indra had left them again and Marie had taken interest in the commander’s glove being decorated with metal pieces resembling the bones of the hand. She was turning the piece of clothing over in her own hand, still sitting at the table before she slipped it over her own hand.</p><p>Lexa laughed lightly at the child showing her how large the glove was on her little hand with an expression of disappointment. She had gotten this glove on her first day as the commander, so it of course was much too large for a girl as young as Marie.</p><p>The girl handed over the glove obediently when it was time for it and Marie watched on in an awed silence how Lexa strapped her weapons in place as well before she added her large shoulder pauldron with the long red sash.</p><p>Marie frowned a little when both Anya and Lexa was done and the commander packed away the war paint. “Me no makeup?” the child asked with a disappointed expression.</p><p>Lexa raised a brow at the child and shook her head “This is not makeup, little one” she had read the term in an old book, so she knew what Marie meant without further explanation.</p><p>“You are too young for war paint” Anya added almost briskly “and you are no warrior”. Usually only their warriors were allowed to wear war paint.</p><p>“I be wa’io’” Marie intoned in an eager tone, getting up from the chair quickly and taking up what she must have defined as a fighting stance.</p><p>Lexa shook her head at the child in amusement “You will make a fine warrior one day, little one” she praised Marie with a kind smile.</p><p>Anya snorted under her breath. The child was uncoordinated and clumsy for her age. It was obvious that she had not received any kind of training thus far. Their own children usually began their training at approximately the age Marie had now, but Lexa had already said that she did not wish Marie’s training to begin in the immediate future. The child ought to get time first to get used to their culture, learning their customs and language.</p><p>In the last moment, Lexa decided that she would let Marie decide herself if she wanted to be present at the meeting or not. She crouched down in front of the girl who was looking at her with a little confusion.</p><p>“We will be in a probably long meeting now, little one” Lexa explained calmly “You can stay here with Alira and play with her or accompany us” she told Marie about her options, letting the child decide.</p><p>Marie immediately blurted out “Go with you” and her grey eyes turned a little insecure as if she was afraid of being left behind, clutching onto one of the commander’s hands as well.</p><p>Lexa gave the child one last smile and nodded at her, before she turned over to the entrance of the tent, letting her expression go blank. It was time to meet with the Sky people.</p>
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<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
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    <p>Chapter 43</p><p>Normally Lexa would have held such a meeting within her tent, but now that she was sort of sharing it with Anya and their little addition, she insisted on a separation. Another large tent had been erected for that purpose and the commander’s throne had been carried over there as well.</p><p>Indra had proclaimed the arrival of a delegation of the Sky people some time ago, but Lexa had seen no reason to hurry Marie. They could wait for her; they should see right from the beginning that she would not play by their rules.</p><p>Marie seemed uneasy about the whole situation once they left their tent.</p><p>Warriors in their armour, visibly carrying weapons and war paint as well were strewn around the commander’s tent and had formed a path for the commander and her small entourage. Gustus had waited for them as well of course and admittedly, the burly warrior must appear frightening to Marie as well. Lexa could easily spot how tense Gustus was which made his own features turn into a hostile grimace while his dark eyes gleamed dangerously with suspicion. The man had cautioned her more than once that he regarded an alliance with the Sky people as unwise and he feared for Lexa’s life.</p><p>Anya seemed antsy about the meeting as well. Although Marie had kept both of them busy and diverted during the early morning, the general’s jaw was tightly clenched now, broadcasting her inner turmoil and her brown eyes flitted over their surroundings suspiciously as if she suspected someone pointing a gun at her.</p><p>Lexa could feel that Marie was using all her strength to keep hold onto her own hand and she subtly caressed over the child’s small hand in her own on their way, hoping to sooth the child a little. She would not let anyone harm the little blonde girl.</p><p>Gustus proceeded them towards the second large tent, opening the tent flaps for his young leader.</p><p>Lexa stepped inside at a lot slowed pace than she usually would have, but she did not even try to get the young child to let go of her hand. Anya was following them closely and Lexa just hoped that Marie would be willing to stand with the general for some time during the meeting. It would look more than weird if the child insisted to sit on her lap.</p><p>Lexa suddenly second-guessed that taking the little girl with her to the meeting had been a good idea. But the Sky people had already caught sight of her and it was too late now to retreat and make a fool of herself. Lexa did not stop to greet anyone of the Sky people yet instead she bypassed them in silence, sitting down on her throne as gracefully as she could with the child still clutching her hand in a surprisingly strong grip.</p><p>It was obvious that all of the Sky people recognized Marie on first glance and they did not appear surprised to see the child with her either. Markus Kane must have informed them about Marie’s whereabouts.</p><p>Lexa was surprised though that Marie waved at younger blonde woman, exclaiming a squealed “C’a’ke” obviously pleased to see her.</p><p>The commander did not like the reaction of the older woman standing behind the younger one. By the way the younger blonde was looking at Anya, this was the one who had escaped from the Mountain with her. She appeared confused to see the general as if she had expected the woman to not have made it back to the commander.</p><p>“Commander” Markus greeted her first in a polite tone and a kind expression.</p><p>Lexa had not expected the man who she had sent to the Sky people first to be here as well. Although his skin was dark, the bruises left by her warriors were easy to spot and he seemed to be on edge, eying the guards standing in the tent constantly. Lexa had given strict orders that the Sky people were not allowed to carry weapons to this meeting in exchange for her word that they would be allowed to leave this tent again unharmed.</p><p>The others seemed to come to their senses as well and repeated Markus’ greeting while Lexa stayed silent, letting her gaze travel over all of them. The Sky people did not look impressive to her in any way and she could only hope that they indeed could aid them in the fight against the Mountain. The fact that these people had decided to send a young innocent girl to earth together with a bunch of youths all untrained and without guidance did not broadcast them in a good way.</p><p>Marie did seem content for now to continue holding her hand, standing leaned against her legs and looking up at the commander with her large trusting grey eyes.</p><p>Lexa’s eyes were drawn back to the young woman who introduced herself as Clarke.</p><p>“Commander” she said in a pretended sounding voice obviously trying to hide how insecure she must be feeling “My name is Clarke Griffin and I escaped from Mount Weather with Anya”.</p><p>Indra visibly tightened the grip around the pommel of her sword at the disrespect Clarke was displaying by speaking up without being asked and addressing Anya without her proper title.</p><p>Marie had cocked her head to the side, obviously listening closely to Clarke’s words for a moment. The child seemed to lose interest as quickly again though and looked around the tent in curiosity.</p><p>Lexa watched the child from the corner of her eyes, but she made a show of turning her head towards Anya for a moment, waiting for the general to approve Clarke’s words “Clarke kom Skykru” she finally answered the woman when her green eyed gazed had returned to her “My general thinks that your people have the knowledge needed to bring down the Mountain Men. What is it that you can offer?” Lexa felt the little girl tug at her hand a second later, while she was still holding her gaze locked with Clarke in a mute hard stare. She finally let go of the small hand, trusting her guards and Anya to protect Marie if needed.</p><p>Anya had more leeway to openly watch what Marie was doing and turned her full attention on the blonde child. The way with which the older woman was watching the young child was not sitting right with her at all.</p><p>The young girl seemed oblivious to the fact that most eyes had turned onto her the very moment she had let go of the commander and walked through a corner of the tent, letting herself flow down on the ground and reach for something. Anya turned her attention back to the Sky people as well though, when a guard stepped closer to Marie. The child seemed to have found something to play with and she hoped it would keep the girl occupied for a while.</p><p>Before Clarke could say something, the older woman spoke up. She looked similar to Clarke and Lexa guessed that she could be her mother. “We have technology…” the woman began.</p><p>The atmosphere in the tent tensed abruptly when Lexa held up a hand to silence the older woman. All of her guards, including Indra and Anya were glaring at the woman yet again speaking without being addressed.</p><p>Lexa did not acknowledge the older woman otherwise; her gaze was still locked with Clarke’s and she waited in silence.</p><p>Clarke seemed to take a deep breath before she answered “Like my mother just said we do have technology and guns which can help…”.</p><p>Indra let out a slight growl. None of their warriors would wish to fight in a war alongside someone armed with guns, but Lexa had already anticipated this and she had to agree that being sided with Sky people and their guns gave them an advantage they had not had before.</p><p>“How?” the commander spoke the single word with a slight arch to her brow and in a cutting tone. She would have expected this people to be better prepared. Lexa narrowed her eyes at Clarke staring the blonde down from her sitting position.</p><p>Clarke appeared speechless and her mouth opened and closed a few times without uttering a single word. She swallowed visibly “I thought we could work out a plan together…” she answered in a feeble tone.</p><p>Lexa’s lips thinned, but before she could answer, Marie let out a piercing shrill scream and she immediately got to her feet in a single quick motion, hurrying over to the girl.</p><p>Lexa felt her heart beat faster in her chest, suddenly afraid that she had overseen something and Marie could have gotten hurt somehow. She did not care right now what this display would portray to the Sky people.</p><p>Marie had just gotten to her feet when Lexa reached her. Her little hands were frantically reaching towards her own head and it took Lexa a second to realize what had spooked the child. A grasshopper was tangled in the child’s blonde hair.</p><p>“Eeewww!!!!” Marie exclaimed in a shrill tone. She stopped her own attempts to remove the insect at Lexa’s quick urging.</p><p>“It’s alright” Lexa tried to sooth the young girl, quickly removing the grasshopper from Marie’s hair “It is gone” she reassured her in a calming tone, showing the insect to Marie for a moment, before she let it drop to the ground.</p><p>Marie shrieked again though when the grasshopper made a jump to flee and tears began to trail down her cheeks. She had stretched out her arms towards Lexa, already standing in direct contact to her legs.</p><p>Lexa lightly sighed under her breath. She knew that the girl would not calm down on her own now, so, she ignored everyone else in the tent and swooped the child into her arms. She whispered a few more calming words directly into Marie’s ears, too low for anyone else to hear.</p><p>“I will keep you safe, my little one.”</p>
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